The Return of Ultramarine
by Peter Smith
Summary: Fifth in the 'Junior Rangers' series. Ultramarine returns, intent on seeking revenge for his prior defeat, and when the warrior seeks out the ultimate power he's always dreamed of, it's up to the Rangers to stop him.
1. Prologue

Author's notes – this is the fifth story in my "Junior Rangers Saga" series of fanfic, so I would recommend at least a quick glance through the series so you know the basics of what's going on. This story takes place about a week after the events of the final chapter of "Divided We Fall". If you like, please leave a review, as I thrive on feedback :).

**Prologue**

The eleven of us peered down over the top of the hill, and Jason looked back to the team and nodded.

"This is the place," the Red Ranger said.

Down the hill and across the sandy, desert plain sat the Temple of Lothos, a red rock building carved straight into the side of the mountain towering above us. A pair of twisted rocky spires rose above the temple's two enormous wooden doors, while between twenty to thirty putties were spread out around the temple entrance.

"Not exactly Club Med, is it?" said Zac.

Beside him, Brendan nodded. "I don't know, add a garden and some nice bay windows and I could see this as a bed and breakfast," he said. "For a fairly specific market, granted."

Kimberly smiled. "Why so few putties? You'd think she'd like go all out."

"Rita probably still hasn't had the chance to rebuild her army," Teresa replied. "Not since Aaron destroyed them all last week."

"Can we get moving?" I asked quickly, looking back to the group. "Rita's already inside. We need to be down there."

Jason glanced to me, frowning beneath his visor, but nodded. "Okay," he began. "Junior Team, keep the putties busy while we head inside and deal with Rita. Guys, let's move!"

"Right!"

With that, we all leaped over the line of outcropping rocks and raced down the hill, charging across the desert plain towards the temple. Seeing us approach, the putties instinctively turned to confront us.

"Brendan!" called Jason. "Clear us a path!"

"Path cleared!" Brendan replied, and raising his arms, twin beams of light shot out from Brendan towards the temple doors. Whipping back around on either side, the ribbons flattened two entire lines of the putties and left a clear path for the Senior Rangers.

"Thanks dude!" cried Zac, flashing the Silver Ranger a thumbs-up as the Seniors raced past us and on towards the temple.

All around, the plain came alive with the sounds of battle. Racing towards our opponents, Sarah somersaulted into the midst of a crowd of putties, instantly dropping several with two high spin kicks. A few metres away, Scott ducked under a blow, caught punches thrown from either side and threw the grey warriors aside, while behind him, I was working my way towards the temple doors, leaving a trail of defeated opponents in my wake. Across the battlefield, Teresa was holding her own against a crowd of opponents, and beside her, Brendan was moving forward with every step, beams of light spinning around him.

A putty leaped towards him from the side but Brendan spun a ribbon of light around the warrior and threw him away. "That wraps you up," he nodded - another putty charged forward, but he flattened the warrior with a high punch, before spinning back to drop a third opponent with a raised forearm. "Smackdown."

A few feet away, Teresa struck away an opponent on her left, but a glancing blow to her shoulder from another putty knocked her to the ground.

"Brendan," she said loudly, catching the putty's foot as he kicked forward and spinning him off his feet, "more fighting, less one-liners. If you're not too busy."

The Silver Ranger froze, turning to Teresa as she climbed to her feet and dusted herself off, his expression falling behind his visor. "Um... sorry," he mumbled, before turning back to continue the battle.

* * *

"I don't understand," Rita murmured, glancing from the scroll she was holding to the huge stone doors standing before her. "I've used every kind of light I can think of." She stopped, turning back to Scorpina and Goldar. "I don't suppose either of you brought a flash light...?" 

Without warning, the temple's huge wooden doors crashed open, slamming back against the wall on either side as the six Senior Rangers stormed in through the entrance, framed against the red desert outside. Glancing around, the Rangers took in the temple's interior in an instant - a staircase on either side of them led up to a stone ledge on the far wall, where Rita and her two generals stood before two huge stone gates. Around them, the red stone walls were covered with strange carvings, while four statues of armoured warriors stood facing them across the centre of the room.

"Party's over Rita," called Jason, as the villainess spun to face them.

"Yeah," said Zac. "Whatever's behind those gates was never meant for you."

Rita sneered. "Funnily enough, I can't think of anyone better," she said, and nodding to her two generals, Scorpina and Goldar immediately leaped down towards the Rangers, raising their swords and slowly advancing.

"Funny thing is," said Tommy, "even if they beat us, that still won't help you open those gates. You see," and the Green Ranger held up a brown scroll similar to the one Rita was holding, "as it turns out, yours wasn't the only edition. And if you'd read carefully, you would've seen that this temple only gives up its secrets to pure light. And I bet that even with all your power, something pure is beyond your ability."

Rita froze, and they watched as her eyes flickered down to the scroll for a few seconds before turning back to them. Fury flashed across her expression, and without another word, she raised her wand and the three villains vanished in flashes of flame, leaving the Rangers alone in the empty temple.

The Rangers all turned to each other. "We won, right?" asked Zac.

"Not even a parting shot," said Kimberly. "It's official. She's slipping."

* * *

Outside, the five of us were just defeating our final opponents when the bodies of all the unconscious putties around us teleported away. Catching our breath, we all jogged over to each other, meeting in front of the temple doors. 

"Guess we won," said Scott.

I nodded. "Yeah, a nice change..."

Across from us, the huge wooden doors swung open, and we all turned to see the Senior Rangers emerge from the temple and walk towards us, Zac closing the doors behind them.

"We guessed right," nodded Jason. "Rita hadn't read the scroll properly, she wouldn't have been able to open the doors anyway. Still, not a bad afternoon's work."

"Yay for us," said Brendan softly, glancing over to Teresa who seemed to be looking everywhere but at the Silver Ranger.

Scott and Sarah glanced from me to Brendan and Teresa, and then back to each other and shrugged. "I guess we can get out of here then," said Scott.

Kimberly nodded. "By my count we have at least two hours left of a perfectly good Friday afternoon," she grinned. "Let's make the best of it."

Everyone nodded, and reaching for our communicators, we teleported away.

* * *

And as the eleven of us celebrated our victory, far away across impossible distances through the black of space, red eyes flickered open to look at the stars above. The last moment of memory was one of fire and noise and _power_, world- shattering and all-encompassing. But there was something else - brightly-coloured figures, twelve of them around him, _heroes_, laughing. Mocking him. Humiliating him with their defiance. In that moment, his fate set, the warrior threw back his head and roared. 

Even if he had to pull the very stars themselves down from the sky, they would not be laughing much longer.


	2. Chapter 1

Author's notes -- here's the first chapter. I hope you enjoy :).**  
**

**Chapter One**

"I don't think we're late," said Trini, pulling the gym doors open and glancing to her watch. "Kim was in a hurry but she said eleven thirty, didn't she?"

Stepping past Trini into the building, Billy glanced around the interior and smiled. "Indeed. I believe we're early."

Across the gym, they spotted Kimberly standing at the top of a pyramid of cheerleaders, balancing briefly before somersaulting down in perfect time with the music blasting out of the building's speaker system. Catching sight of Billy and Trini, Kim grinned and quickly waved, before ducking back to join the other cheerleaders as the formation broke apart.

"Is there somewhere we can sit and watch the proceedings?" asked Billy.

Trini nodded. "Over on the benches, c'mon," she replied, but as she led Billy across the gym, a sudden thought occurred to her. "You've been in the gym before, haven't you?"

The blond youth nodded. "Affirmative," he replied. "There was the annual science fair here a few months ago. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering."

As the Blue and Yellow Rangers sat down, the cheerleading squad continued their practice, a frenzied and energetic swirl of frills and pompoms, with complicated dance steps and acrobatics that would've left even the most skilled martial artist in awe, all accompanied by the deafening fast-paced music. Trini smiled - no wonder this practice had to be scheduled for Saturday morning. The school's teachers would've been in for a losing battle against that kind of sound.

After a few minutes, one of the girls stepped away from the rest of the group. Watching from the stands, both Trini and Billy instantly recognised her as Veronica March, the eldest daughter of one of the richest families in town. Blessed with curly blonde hair, bright blue eyes and near-flawless beauty, Veronica was the quintessential cheerleader. Watching the girls for a few seconds, she waved over to the stereo operator, and the music cut out.

"Okay girls, that was great!" she called. "Good work everyone!"

The group broke up, and Kimberly jogged over to join Billy and Trini.

"Hey guys," she puffed, brushing her hair from her eyes. "Sorry, I guess we totally ran late..."

"Don't worry," said Trini. "It was fun to watch."

Billy nodded. "Affirmative," he replied, and offered Kim a bottle of ice-cold water.

Kimberly gratefully accepted the gift, and gulped down half the bottle. "Billy, you're my hero," she smiled, still out of breath.

Across the gym, Veronica watched as everybody went for their backpacks along the side of the room, then walked to the center of the gym and raised her voice.

"Okay everybody, so our next practice is tomorrow afternoon," she called. "Let's be ready!"

Silence followed, and the girls all turned back to Veronica, tired groans escaping from several. Kimberly's brows lowered, and giving Billy back the water bottle, she stepped back towards Veronica.

"You want us back Sunday afternoon as well?" she asked.

Veronica nodded, either blissfully unaware or decidedly ignorant of the rising murmur of disapproval on all sides. "Of course."

"But don't you think that's totally overkill?" Kim asked. "I mean, fair enough the rugby semifinals are only two weeks away, but we've nailed these routines. And what about everything else, like the midyear exams in a week? I mean, we all need that time."

Despite the girls all nodding their agreement, Veronica shook her head. "Well, I'm sorry," she said, in a tone that couldn't have made it any clearer that she in fact _wasn't_, "but if you want to stay on this team, I expect you to show full commitment." With the unspoken 'or else' still hanging in the air, Veronica turned back to the rest of the gym. "See you all tomorrow afternoon girls!" she called, and with the briefest hint of a grin, she went for her backpack and left the building.

"What was that about?" asked Trini, as Kim stepped back over towards them.

The Pink Ranger shook her head. "Just little miss control freak there," she said, then sighed. "She just wants us to be perfect, I guess."

"At the expense of your other priorities?" asked Billy. "That seems unfair."

Kim shrugged. "As long as the world isn't about to end I'll just have to make time," she replied. "Anyway, I've spent too much time here already. I'll just go and change, and then let's get out of here." And the Pink Ranger quickly dashed back towards the lockers.

* * *

Stepping off the verandah and onto the front step, Jason knocked lightly on the wooden door and stepped back. After a few seconds the door swung open, and to his surprise, Jason found himself staring at Scott and Sarah.

"Oh, Jason," said Scott, and smiled. "Hey."

Jason nodded. "Uh, hey," he said. "Sorry, I was expecting Peter... this is _his_ house, right?"

Sarah grinned. "We're all inside watching TV," she said, opening the door. "Come in."

"Thanks," Jason replied, stepping inside. "Is Peter in with everyone else? I was kinda hoping to talk to him."

Scott shook his head. "He went out into the backyard a few minutes ago," he said, then added, "it's a good thing you're here, actually. For about a week now, ever since Aaron left, something's been really bothering him."

Sarah nodded. "Peter tends to shut down when he's upset about something," she said. "Reaching him tends to be fairly hit and miss. And for that matter, Brendan's been really quiet and Teresa hasn't said a word all morning either." Sarah paused, and smiled. "You're talking to the only two sane people left."

"I know," agreed Scott. "School camp is in like a week, too. It's gonna be a long week at the rate we're going."

Jason nodded. "You're right. Listen, I'll work on Peter, you guys figure out Teresa and Brendan," he said. "Through here?"

"Yeah," Scott replied, "just through the kitchen there."

"Thanks," Jason replied, and as Sarah and Scott returned to Teresa and Brendan in the lounge room, he crossed through the kitchen, stopping to say good morning to my parents who he'd first met when I'd enrolled in his karate class. Heading out onto the backyard patio, he found his quarry sitting over on the edge of the patio, staring at the garden opposite, and walking over, he sat down beside me.

"Hey," he said softly.

I turned to him, surprised. "Morning," I replied. "What brings you round?"Jason shrugged. "Just in the neighbourhood. Thought I'd stop by and say hello." I nodded, and he continued. "And, well... are you okay? Sarah and Scott are a little worried."

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine."

Jason nodded. That was one of those phrases universally recognised as meaning exactly the opposite, but the Red Ranger had a pretty good idea what was bothering me, particularly since Scott and Sarah had practically spelled it out to him earlier. Looking back across the yard to the garden against the back fence, the Red Ranger did what he knew best - attack the problem with a direct approach.

"It wasn't your fault," he said simply.

I turned to him. "What wasn't?"

"Aaron."

I looked away. "Then who's was it?" I replied. "Okay we won, but I keep running this through my head. If I'd maybe fought a little harder, was a little stronger or faster, maybe, I don't know..." and my voice trailed off. "Maybe things would've turned out differently."

Jason nodded. "A few months ago, Tommy lost his powers to a green candle, and he lost them because I couldn't get there in time," he said, and there was a tone in his voice I'd never heard before. "I was out by seconds. If I'd just gotten to that damn candle two or three seconds earlier, then Tommy wouldn't have lost his powers and we'd still be six strong."

I turned to him. The strength was gone from Jason's voice, and it felt like he was telling me something he'd never told anyone. "I remember there were a few weeks where nobody saw the Green Ranger, but nobody ever said anything."

"Well, that's why," Jason nodded. "Even now, his powers are temporary. They could pretty much cut out anytime."

"So how did you keep going?" I asked. "How did you get back up again?"

"Nobody blamed me," Jason replied. "I just had to accept that despite all our powers, despite everything we can do, sometimes we just won't win. And the only thing we can really do is stand by our friends and try to do better next time."

"Yeah but you're _you_," I said. "I know you told me to have faith back with Tibrogargan, but I just can't shake the feeling that I'm the guy who's letting everyone down." I sighed. "I know you'd rather us figure this all out on our own, but I need some help here."

At that, Jason frowned, and after a few seconds, turned to me. "The one thing that really helped me when I first became a Ranger," he began, "and, I think, the best advice anyone could give you, is that no matter who you're facing or what they're attacking you with, play the game by your own rules. Don't play it by theirs."

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "Plan offensively sometimes. Otherwise you'll always be defensive, you'll always be reacting," he said. "One of the first lessons I had to figure out was not to let the badguys dictate the rules, or else I'd be playing a game I just couldn't win."

I nodded. "You know, I think I get that."

Jason smiled. "Cool," he replied. "Anyway, there's something else that none of us have showed you guys, and I think it's about time we did. The reason I stopped by, actually. This afternoon, half past three or so, can you meet me in the park opposite Currimundi Lake, down towards the beach?"

I nodded. "Sure, I'll be there."

"Awesome," he nodded, and he stood up. "Oh, and one more thing," he added, "if you can, come morphed. See you then."

* * *

On the moon, one sound rang out in defiance of the empty vacuum of space, carrying down from the top floor of the lunar palace and across the rocky landscape as far as the thin atmosphere magically anchored to the castle would allow.

"_Pure_ light?" screeched Rita, towering over a cowering Finster, while Squatt and Baboo hid behind Rita's throne and Goldar and Scorpina stood as far away from her as possible. "How could you miss that? Even I translated that much just standing there!"

"My queen," muttered Finster quickly, his eyes downcast, "I had to translate the scroll as quickly as possible... the Command Centre's archives are undoubtedly more vast than ours..."

"We were in that temple a solid fifteen minutes before those brats arrived," Rita snarled. "All that time wasted, because you didn't spend an extra five minutes reading through the scroll a little more thoroughly." Turning away from the cowering scientist, Rita crossed back towards where her wand was leaning against the wall. "We were so close this time," she continued, and the witch's henchmen all turned to her in shock - the fury was almost entirely gone from Rita's voice, replaced by hollow disappointment. "Like every other time, those Ranger brats got in the way at the last minute. We need to get rid of them, once and for all, no matter what. I need to. And we were so close last time with Ultramarine..."

But suddenly, Rita's eyes flew wide, and she glanced quickly around the room. "Wait... something's..."

Without warning, the room began to shake, the walls, floor and ceiling all shuddering violently. Squatt and Baboo crashed to the ground, while Rita glanced around in alarm for the source of the disturbance. Suddenly, the two large doors at the end of the room crashed open, and everyone turned to look, only to see a dark figure framed in the doorway, bathed in an eerie yellow light. From the silhouetted helmet and shoulder cannon, Rita immediately knew who it was.

"Ultramarine?" she gasped, as the room became still again.

With a growl, Ultramarine stepped out of the shadows and approached them.

"Yes witch," the warrior replied, in his deep, gruff voice, and for effect raised his arms and slid both wrist-blades into place. "It's me."

"Well," Rita began, stepping back and casually letting her arm fall towards her wand. "It's good to see you recovered from... being dead, and all."

Ultramarine continued forward. "An ancient deal was made," he said, "that gave every member of the Brotherhood two lives to live. Nobody knew of the bargain outside of us - until now, as I was the first to make use of it." He paused, and looked to Rita. "And stand down your magics, witch. It is not you I return for."

Rita smiled, suddenly discovering every ace in her hand. "So," she began, "you seek revenge then?"

The fire in Ultramarine's eyes grew brighter. "Revenge?" he repeated. "I suffered the ultimate of humiliations... at _their_ hands. Never before has a member of the Brotherhood lost everything to... _children_," he growled. "I don't want revenge, I want to crush them into dust and wipe them from history!"

"Join the club," said Scorpina from behind Rita, and Ultramarine turned to glare at her.

"Our alliance bore fruit last time," the warrior said, looking back to Rita, "and it may do so again. But know this - I don't care what it takes or what I need to do, but I want the Rangers broken, conquered and destroyed."

Rita grinned wickedly, and stepped towards the blue warrior. "So, you wish to humiliate them _and_ arm yourself with greater power so as to bring your goals that much closer within reach?" Ultramarine nodded, and Rita continued. "Excellent. Because as it so happens, Ultramarine, I know how you can do both."

* * *

I teleported into the park in a flash of orange light, materialising in a wide clearing between the gum trees and scaring a flock of lorikeets in the branches above. Through the trees I could make out Currimundi Lake a short distance away. I knew the park fairly well - there were only a few places where Jason would've wanted me to meet him, and if he wasn't in this clearing, there were only a few other places he could be.

Glancing around, I walked over to a nearby path, and followed that into the trees. I think it was the first time that I'd been morphed and wasn't fighting for my life, and I couldn't help but notice that through the helmet my hearing and eyesight seemed to be a lot clearer than usual. It was kind of cool. As I walked, the trees around me opened up into a small field under a large gumtree, with the Red Ranger standing in the centre of the clearing.

Jason smiled beneath his visor as I reached him. "Hey, glad you made it."

I nodded. "Three thirty, as promised," I said. "Zordon's okay with us using our powers, right?"

Jason nodded. "Totally, I was talking to him before."

"Cool," I replied. "So, what was it you wanted me to see?"

Reaching to his side, Jason unholstered his blaster. "You're gonna have to forgive me for this one," he said, holding the blaster up, the barrel pointed skyward. "We honestly meant to show you guys sooner than this, but I guess we never got the opportunity..." With that, he pulled back the top of the blaster with his left hand, and as the trigger and finger-guard sank into the handle, he pushed the handle back to lock into the top bar, and a thin silver blade rose from the gun's barrel, clicking into place a second later.

"I present," he said, "the blaster in blade mode."

I was silent for a second. "Wow," I said. "I never knew they could do that. Is it just yours, or...?"

"No," he replied. "Try it with your own."

I unholstered my own blaster, and following Jason's lead, soon had my own blaster in blade mode. "This is so cool," I said, then turned to Jason with a grin. "You know, we could've used these a few times in the past..."

Jason blushed beneath his visor. "You guys figured out the point-and-shoot part of them on your own, we didn't think we'd have to," he replied. "And then we never got the opportunity during those first few weeks, and then it just got more and more awkward. I'm doing it now at least. Forgive me?"

"Of course," I replied, holding the blade up. "But only because this thing's so nifty," and I ran my finger along the flat of the dagger.

"Careful, the blades are molecularly sharp, or something that would sound impressive if Billy said it," Jason added with a smile. "You're right, though, they're pretty useful, for everybody. And great for fighting in close-combat."

"I can't say I've ever really handled a knife before though," I said. "Can you maybe give me some basics?"

Jason nodded. "Knife-fighting is pretty different to sword-fighting," he replied. "I picked up everything I know from Trini, so we can organise a sparring session later on in the week."

I nodded, and looked back to the Red Ranger beside me. "That'd be great," I said. "Thanks man, this is really cool."

Jason smiled. "Don't mention it."

"Well, actually, I was going to..." But I was interrupted as without warning, the sound of muffled thunder suddenly echoed across the clearing from a few feet away, and something large suddenly dropped down onto the grass behind us.

"How adorable," said a voice, deep and earthy and shaking with rage. "The alpha males are bonding."

At that, we immediately spun around to face the speaker, only to freeze in wide-eyed shock. For a second, neither of us could believe it - standing less than three metres away, his blue armour shining in the afternoon sunlight and red eyes burning bright with hatred, was Ultramarine.

Jason instantly retransformed and holstered his blaster, while I dropped mine onto the grass and summoned my sword with a thought.

"You're dead," I said simply.

"Not quite," Ultramarine replied, "but are you going to wish that was true by the time I'm through with you..."

Waiting no longer, I raised my sword and leaped towards the warrior, but he casually raised his hand, caught my helmet and held me at arm's length.

"Please child," he grunted, "you'll embarrass us both," and he threw me away to land with a crash on the grass, only to turn back as Jason suddenly thundered towards him.

"You do not touch him_ again_," said Jason, and immediately swung out with a powerful roundhouse punch. Ultramarine ducked back out of danger and Jason swung again with his left - the warrior struck away the blow and aimed a punch for Jason's chest. The Red Ranger stepped around the move, blocking another punch and swinging his forearm for the warrior's helmet, but the warrior quickly raised his arm and blocked the blow, batting away a second blow as Jason spun back and swung again. The warrior retaliated aiming a punch to his opponent's stomach - Jason struck Ultramarine's fist aside, and they both spun around with two high kicks, the blows rebounding and the two opponents stumbling back away.

Meanwhile, I quickly climbed to my feet and raised my communicator to my helmet. "Zordon!" I cried. "Ultramarine's back, he's here in the park with Jason and me and we need some help!"

The reply was instant. "The others are on their way," Zordon said.

Across the clearing, Ultramarine and Jason warily circled one another, keeping their distance. "Somebody actually worth fighting," the warrior growled, "it's about time," and both his wrist-blades slid into place.

"Jason!" I cried, and threw my sword towards him. Turning to catch the sword with his left hand, Jason summoned his own blade with a thought and turned back to Ultramarine with both swords raised.

"So we killed you once," he said. "How do _you_ think this is going to end?"

Ultramarine sneered. "Oh spare me," he growled, and his left blade flashed towards his opponent. Jason blocked the move with my sword, struck away Ultramarine's other blade with his own and carved the weapon back towards the warrior's chest. Ultramarine blocked the sword with his right blade and slashed his left in a wide arc for Jason's torso, but the Red Ranger stepped around the blow, slicing for the warrior's head as he spun forward and forcing the warrior back. Ultramarine ducked as the blades flashed above him and sliced his right blade back towards his opponent - Jason struck the blade aside and attacked again, blocking a high swipe and slashing both blades on a wide arc for the warrior, but Ultramarine blocked the two swords in a shower of sparks, and the fighters spun back out of each other's range.

I raced over to Jason's side to join him as Ultramarine regained his footing, the blue warrior about to attack again when suddenly there were nine bright flashes of light, and Ultramarine suddenly found himself facing the entire team of Power Rangers, all with weapons raised.

"Whoa," breathed Zac, "Ultramarine. Zordon was right."

Beside me, Teresa nodded. "We didn't believe him at first."

"And now you're back, get ready to leave," said Tommy.

"Words," the warrior replied, glancing down the line of Rangers. "But seeing as how the witch was right and only eleven face me, I can't say I'm that worried."

"Well that'll be your last mistake," said Sarah. "Your first was coming back at all."

Jason nodded. "We beat you once, it just wasn't thoroughly enough."

"A minor setback," Ultramarine replied, continuing to stare down the line of Rangers. "Because I _am_ back. You were lucky last time Rangers, extremely lucky. This time, nothing will save you." He paused, the warrior's red eyes resting on Brendan for a tiny split-second. "Mark my words Rangers - this time, it's war." And with one final laugh, the armoured warrior vanished from the scene.

* * *

"Man, just when we thought we'd seen the last of that blue creep," said Kimberly, glancing around the Command Centre.

"Yeah," said Sarah, then looked up. "Zordon, how can he be back?"

Zordon shook his head. "I'm sorry Rangers but I have no clue," he replied. "Alpha and I will continue to search for information on the Brotherhood, but for the moment, it's as much a mystery to me as it is to all of you."

"Rita must've had something to do with it," said Zac. "I mean c'mon, the last we saw of him were pieces of charcoal floating in Pumicestone Passage."

Teresa turned to him. "But how could Rita have put him back together?"

"Lots of patience," murmured Brendan. "Probably just as much duct tape."

"We barely managed to beat him last time," said Scott. "We don't have to go through all that again, do we?"

"Well, it seems fairly apparent that he returned to avenge his prior defeat," said Billy.

"So what the heck was this afternoon about?" Tommy asked. "He didn't really _do_ anything, he just threatened us and left."

"I agree, it doesn't make any sense," said Trini. "Why announce himself like that? Why not just blindside us?"

"Maybe he just wanted to freak us out," said Kim. "You know, throw us off our game."

Jason turned to me beside him. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "C'mon, I didn't swing a single punch," I said, then glanced over to the Green Ranger. "Tommy's right, though," I continued. "It was strange, Ultramarine didn't really attack, did he?"

Jason smiled faintly. "Which means...?"

"He wanted something," I said. "I mean it was like he was checking on us, making sure we were all still here. But why would he do that?"

The Red Ranger shook his head. "I don't know," he said, "and that's the part that worries me."

Watching over us, Zordon nodded. "I fear there is far more to this," he said. "But it's getting late, and you should all return home and get some rest." We all nodded, and reached for our communicators. "But be ready, all of you. If we need you, Alpha and I will call, and knowing Ultramarine, I have no doubt that call will be sooner, rather than later. Good night, Rangers."


	3. Chapter 2

Author's notes -- Thanks for your review Koulagirl -- I'm glad you're enjoying the show :). I realised that I couldn't really ever fix Rita being a somewhat one-dimensional villain. What I could do, is make her competent and kind of scary, a real powerhouse. Anyway, here's chapter two :).

**Chapter Two**

"Teresa?" I called, lightly tapping on the door. "You dad said you were in. Can I...?"

"Yeah, of course, come in," came the reply, and opening the door, I stepped into the room Teresa shared with her older sister. Across from me, Teresa was sitting in the bay window overlooking the Tiaron's backyard, a pencil in her hand and a notepad resting on her knees.

Shutting the door behind me, I crossed towards her, sitting on the windowsill and glancing down to the notepad. "Wow," I said, seeing a sketch of a cheerful clown. "That's really good."

Teresa smiled. "Thanks," she said. "I couldn't sleep. I figured I might as well do something."

I nodded, and looked out the window. "Me neither. I guess if Ultramarine's trying to throw us off our game, it's working."

"Can I ask, are you okay?" Teresa said. "It's just, the last week you've been really distant. We were worried."

"Still down about Aaron, I guess," I said, turning back to her. "But Jason spoke to me a couple of times, so I'm cool. I promise. Until last night, obviously."

"I'm glad," she replied. "That's good to hear."

"What about you?" I asked, tapping the sketch of the clown. "You only draw this well if something's really bothering you. I know you too well, Teresa Tiaron."

Teresa smiled. "I'm fine, really," she nodded. "I guess I'm just worried about Ultramarine." But she paused, glancing down to the drawing in the notepad. "Can I ask you something?"

I nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

"About Brendan," she said. "Do you ever think that he should maybe take this a bit more seriously?"

"What do you mean?"

Teresa sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's on the team," she said quickly, "and I'm glad he's our friend, but it seems like it's all just fun to him. Like he's more worried about his next one-liner than the badguys. Don't you think he should be a little more focussed sometimes?"

I shrugged. "It's never really bothered me," I replied. "I mean, I couldn't get through class without him. And I don't know, I think it's cool that he can keep everybody smiling even when the sky is falling. He just doesn't get caught up in it like the rest of us, you know?"

"I guess so," Teresa nodded.

"I don't think we could change him anyway," I said.

Teresa smiled. "Yeah, you're right there," she said. "Thanks," and dropping the drawing back onto the desk beside us, she stepped out of the window. "Let's go find the others."

* * *

"C'mon, gimme a break here," Zac laughed, hunched forward on the couch and giving the game console a pounding comparable to what his character was enduring. "I've got the giant robot for back-up, you'd think I'd be doing better than this..."

Beside him, Brendan grinned. "You're not doing too badly," he replied. "Except for the whole, you know, not-winning part."

"Beginner's luck," said Zac. "Has to be."

"Hey guys," came a voice, and Jason stuck his head around the corner of Zac's room. The Silver and Black Rangers nodded a greeting, and stepping into the room, Jason turned to the television screen facing them. "Zac, seriously, you've never won with this character."

Zac shook his head. "Bound to eventually, right?" he asked, then risked a glance up to Jason. "We're just trying to enjoy ourselves, you know. Calm before the storm kinda deal."

Jason nodded, sitting down on the floor beside the couch.. "That's cool," he said. "I think we need it. I fight the winner." But before Jason had even finished the sentence, Zac's fighter died spectacularly, and Zac sighed and passed the controller across to Jason.

"Step right up," smiled Brendan. "I'll take you on."

Jason laughed and looked over to the Silver Ranger. "It's good to hear your voice again," he said. "You hardly said a word yesterday."

Brendan nodded. "I just figured sometimes we don't need the stupid jokes."

"I don't know," Jason replied. "With Ultramarine and Rita planning who knows what up on the moon right now, I think we need them now more than ever." He looked back to the screen as the game returned Jason and Brendan's characters into the fighting arena, a shadowy forested glen. "Hey Zac," Jason continued, "do you think I'm a bad teacher?"

Zac glanced to Jason. "What makes you say that?"

"Just something somebody said to me yesterday," Jason replied. "You remember how I was back with Billy, right? I think I'm doing that all over again."

"You can be a little... driven sometimes, I guess," Zac said. "But that's not totally a bad thing, that's just you."

Jason nodded but didn't reply, thinking over what Zac had said while still concentrating on the game with Brendan, which to Jason's credit lasted at least fifteen seconds longer than Zac's game.

Jason looked across to Brendan as he grinned triumphantly. "Okay, I don't impress that easily," the Red Ranger said. "But seriously - damn."

* * *

The palace doors swung open and Ultramarine stepped into the room, immediately crossing towards where Rita stood with a troop of putties behind her.

"You're ready?" he asked. Rita nodded, and the warrior continued. "Hmm. When you said I'd have an army behind me, I assumed you meant more than fifteen."

"Armies take time to produce, and we have been busy this week," she replied sharply. "Besides, you should be more than a match for anything on that island. Consider them, _insurance_."

Ultramarine nodded. "There's no kill like overkill," he said. "It had just better be where you said it would be."

"He will not have parted with it," Rita replied. "It means far too much to him, I can guarantee it you of that."

"Excellent," the warrior replied. "We can move out."

"Yes," Rita replied. "The only thing we're still lacking," and smiling evilly, she turned to look at Finster on the far side of the room, "is a diversion."

* * *

Billy stepped into the Youth Centre, and glancing around the interior of the building, soon spotted Kimberly and Trini at a table up near the Juice Bar, noting a mountain of textbooks and notepads between them as he jogged over to join them.

"Good morning," he called, and the two Rangers looked up from their books and smiled as he approached.

"Hey Billy," said Kimberly. "Come, sit down, join the study club."

Billy pulled a chair out beside Trini, running his eyes over the school-books spread out around him as he sat down. "English, modern history, geography... I'm impressed."

"Actually, at the moment," Kim began, holding up a fourth book, "science. It feels like I've got three hundred assignments to write, and since I lost yesterday and I'm going to lose this afternoon, I was up all night trying to get through it all." She paused, and smiled. "Really worked, too."

Trini leaned forward. "If trying to balance everything is going to start costing you sleep, you really should take to Veronica," she said. "Get her to give everybody a lighter practice schedule. The other girls are probably in the same boat."

Billy nodded. "Trini's correct. You said it yourself Kimberly, your other priorities are just as worthy of your time," he said. "Certainly Veronica seems highly- strung and possibly faintly deranged," and Kimberly smiled, "but you shouldn't let her dictate your schedule."

Kimberly sat back, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "I appreciate your help but I don't have a choice on this one," she said. "I never applied for head cheerleader because I, well, I knew I wouldn't have been too reliable," and she tapped her communicator for emphasis. "Which means that Veronica is in charge and can call the rules whether I like it or not."

Trini nodded, about to reply when an approaching figure suddenly caught her attention. "Speaking of which..."

"Hey Kimmy!" called Veronica, her bright grin fixed in place and hair tied in a ponytail as she approached the table. "Working hard?" Kim nodded, and Veronica smiled. "Well, just remember, we want you fresh and alert at practice this afternoon, so don't study too hard. See you then!" And without another word, the cheerleader turned and bounced away.

The three Rangers turned to each other. "Well," said Trini simply.

"Decaf," nodded Billy.

Kimberly smiled. "I don't know who's worse, her or Ultramarine."

Trini laughed. "I think that might be a little unfair."

Kim nodded, watching as Veronica left the building and running her eyes from the cheerleader's pink top to her lime-green skirt. "That's true," she said. "Ultramarine can at least coordinate."

Without warning, the Rangers' communicators suddenly chimed, and they glanced around to each other.

"Great," said Kim. "The one sound I was hoping we wouldn't hear today."

"You're right there," said Trini. "C'mon," and the three Rangers quickly stashed all the books into Kimberly and Trini's backpacks, before leaving the table and jogging down towards the locker-room, Billy shutting the door behind them.

"Zordon," said Trini, raising her communicator. "Go ahead."

"Trini, are Billy and Kimberly there as well?" Zordon asked.

"Yeah," said Kimberly. "We're both here."

"Good," came the reply. "I've contacted everybody. Ultramarine's made his first move. Can you please come to the Command Centre as soon as possible?"

"Affirmative, we're on our way," Billy replied, and the three Rangers tapped the top buttons on their communicators and vanished from the scene.

* * *

All eleven of us materialised in the Command Centre before Zordon's energy tube seconds later. We all glanced around to check everyone had arrived, before looking up to the interdimensional sage.

"Zordon, what is it?" asked Scott. "Where's Ultramarine? In the city?"

Zac nodded. "We're ready for him."

"That's the thing," Zordon replied. "Ultramarine isn't _in_ the city. He's not even in Australia, and barely even in the Southern Hemisphere." We all looked around in confusion, and Zordon continued. "Rangers, if you could turn to the world map," he said, and paused as we turned to the map of the world on the wall beside us, only to see a light flashing somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. "A few minutes ago our sensors picked up Ultramarine's signal on one of the Phoenix Islands, a group of small volcanic islands roughly halfway between Fiji and Hawaii, and just south of the Equator."

There was a second of silence. "Well," said Sarah. "That was unexpected."

"What on Earth does he want out there?" I asked.

Brendan glanced around the room but couldn't resist. "A good tan?"

Tommy shook his head. "He threatens us yesterday and then attacks an island thousands of kilometres away," he said. "What gives?"

"The interesting thing is," continued Zordon, "that's as much information as we have. Something on that island is blocking our scanners, and we haven't been able to investigate any further. Which makes me very curious as to what exactly is located there."

"Well no matter what, we have to go after him," said Kimberly. "Make sure he doesn't hurt anybody else."

"Ayeyiyi!" cried Alpha suddenly. "Rangers, we've just detected a monster in the city!"

Everyone spun to face the viewing screen as the device automatically flashed to life, showing a screaming crowd of people racing down the main street of the city. As they fled, the monster behind them steadily came into view - instantly recognisable as Rita's twisted version of a rhinoceros, the beast stood six feet tall and was covered in a thick grey pelt, with two glowing yellow eyes, a pair of flat ears sticking out from the side of the creature's head and a single sharp ivory horn.

"The Rhinoblaster," Zordon nodded. "A vicious and powerful creature, but not one noted for it's intelligence."

"Obviously a diversion," nodded Billy.

Jason quickly glanced around the group. They'd need as many Rangers as possible to take on Ultramarine, but given the strength of the monster, that didn't leave them with many options. _Okay_... "Tommy and Zac," he said, "stay in the city, take care of the monster and join us when you can. Everybody else, how about a trip to the tropics?"

Zordon nodded. "Excellent," he boomed. "The best of luck Rangers, and be careful."

"Okay," Jason nodded, "let's do it guys," and we all reached for our back pockets. "It's morphin' time!"

"Dilophosaurus!"

"Rhamphorynchus!"

"Brontosaurus!"

"Velociraptor!"

"Stegosaurus!"

"Dragon Zord!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabre-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

* * *

The city emptied around him as Rhinoblaster left a trail of destruction down the main street, people fleeing the city in droves or racing to the emergency monster shelters following practiced evacuation procedures. Reaching the abandoned city plaza, the monster lowered his head and charged, shaking the ground with every step, smashing into an empty car and launching the vehicle through a nearby building. Watching with a satisfied smile as the car rolled to a stop, the beast turned to continue his rampage, when suddenly there were two flashes of light a few metres away, and he found himself facing the Black and Green Rangers.

"Endangered species, no?" asked Tommy.

Rhinoblaster growled and stepped towards them. "Not this rhino."

Zac nodded. "Then check back in about ten minutes."

The monster roared and thundered towards them, but Tommy immediately took to the air, sending the beast stumbling with a kick to the monster's jaw. The monster staggered back but found his footing quickly as Zac charged forward to attack, Rhinoblaster blocking a roundhouse punch from the Ranger before retaliating - Zac struck away a low swipe, blocked a blow with his elbow and caught the monster's right fist before landing a powerful blow to the beast's chest and forcing him back. Even as the beast recovered, Tommy raced forward, and blocking a high punch, the Green Ranger landed a kick to the beast's ribs, before spinning around a chest-high swipe and sending the monster crashing with a high spin kick.

The two Rangers regrouped as the beast staggered to his feet.

"Get the point yet?" asked Zac, then blushed beneath his helmet. "Oh man, that was _bad_..."

Tommy smiled. "Make up for it in round two," he said.

Across from them, Rhinoblaster roared. "I'm not beaten yet!" he cried, and raised his enormous fist - a silver curved blade formed in a flash of light, and the monster charged back towards them.

"Works for me," nodded Zac. "Power Axe!"

"Dragon Dagger!"

The beast slashed with his sword as he approached, but Zac somersaulted to safety while Tommy raised his dagger to block the sword's arc in a shower of sparks. Striking the weapon away, Tommy landed a blow to the beast's chest, before slashing the dagger back towards the beast's head - blocking Tommy's wrist, Rhinoblaster carved his sword back towards the Green Ranger, forcing Tommy back. But turning to follow after the Green Ranger, the beast came under attack as Zac leaped forward to confront him, carving his axe through the air as he fell. Rhinoblaster blocked the swing, batted away a second blow and ducked back around a third as Zac followed after the monster, swinging for the beast with every step. The monster sliced his sword for the Black Ranger's chest, but Zac blocked the blade with the axe's barrel, before landing a blow to the monster's torso and sending him crashing with a high kick.

Rhinoblaster rolled to a stop, dazed, and with the upper hand, the two Rangers charged forward to continue the battle.

* * *

The endless deep blue of the Pacific Ocean flashed by far below, broken only by tropical islands, coral atolls and the international date line somewhere beneath us. In the distance, a single small island suddenly appeared on the horizon but was rapidly approaching, and before we knew it, we'd teleported down out of the sky and materialised on the beach.

I quickly looked around - the nine of us had landed on a beach of white sand, with crystal blue water gently lapping onto the shore behind us. A single volcanic peak sat in the centre of the island, tropical jungle on all sides leading down to the coast. Ahead of us, a wide stone path bordered by palm fronds and hibiscus plants led away from the beach, while further inland, a massive stone complex seemed to jut straight out of the side of the volcano, rising above the jungle and overlooking the coastline.

The only things that didn't fit were the still-sparking remains of what looked to have been an army of robotic droids littering the ground on all sides, and the sounds of frenzied combat that echoed down to the beach, shouts, crashes and twisting metal, punctuated every few seconds by the roar of a cannon blast.

"Good heavens," said Trini. "We're in the middle of a war."

"It sounds like it," nodded Teresa. "But somebody definitely lives here, that's for sure."

"These guys must be the local security force," said Scott. "I guess if we follow the spare parts, we'll find Ultramarine."

Billy nodded. "They're more than likely to see us as intruders as well."

"We'll just have to fight our way in," Jason replied. "Doesn't matter - no matter what we find here, we get to Ultramarine."

"Guys," I began, glancing from Teresa and Scott on my left to Brendan and Sarah on my right, "check it out," and unholstering my blaster, I quickly transformed the weapon into blade mode.

"Cool," said Brendan, as they all reached for their blasters.

Jason nodded, and the four Senior Rangers transformed their blasters as well. "Okay guys, let's move!"

With that, we all charged forward, quickly following the stone path inland but at all times keeping watch for any signs of danger. The concentration of wreckage seemed to increase the closer we reached to the huge stone building, and turning a corner, we ran past several putties lying unconscious amidst the broken droids.

"At least we're on the right island," nodded Sarah.

Up ahead, nine robotic droids suddenly emerged from the jungle, each targetting one of us and quickly closing in. Six feet tall, the droids had thin mechanical bodies and blinking beacons for heads, each one armed with a large chest cannon as well as blasters fitted to both arms.

"Heads up guys!" cried Kimberly, and half a second later, the droids took aim and fired.

I leaped sideways into the air as the blasts whistled towards me, spinning towards the droid facing me, finding my footing and carving my blade through the robot's chest shell, a second slash sending it to the ground. Beside me, Kimberly somersaulted over incoming fire, rolling to her feet and destroying the droid with a high jump kick, while a few metres away, Scott spun around the blasts and kicked a fallen tree trunk towards his opponent, reaching the robot while it stepped around the log and taking its head with a slash from his blade. Behind him, Teresa had dived under the incoming fire and destroyed her opponent with a low foot sweep, while Trini threw her blade at the sole droid remaining - the blade buried itself in the robot's chest shell, and the droid toppled backwards in sparking ruin.

"Everyone okay?" Jason asked, and we all nodded. "C'mon."

Hearts racing, we continued, past a field of sparking robot pieces and through what was once a thick stone gate, now little more than rubble. Ahead, the pathway led right into the stone building, and without slowing down, we charged up the steps, past two huge battered doors and into a small atrium, all nine of us coming to a grinding halt as we crossed the small hall and finally reached the interior of the building.

"Wow," was all I could say.

We were standing on the far side of a great hall, with an arched ceiling at least forty feet above our heads. Tapestries and paintings lined the curved outer wall, while statues and various artifacts stood on display stands throughout the room, a huge wooden chest a few feet to our left filled to overflowing with gold and precious stones. But everywhere we looked, putties and droids were fighting in the aisles between the treasures, the droids blasting with their weapons while the grey warriors were battling hand-to-robotic-hand. The noise of the battle was deafening, the sound almost overwhelming.

And it only took a second to find our quarry - in the middle of the room under a shattered marble statue, Ultramarine was slicing through dozens of the droids with every step, constantly moving forward and leaving a trail of destruction behind him.

We all stepped into the ruined hall, but glancing away from Ultramarine, Trini suddenly noticed an old man lying on the ground at the side of the room, with a long white beard and dressed entirely in black robes. He was half-buried by rubble and debris, and appeared barely-conscious and probably badly injured. "Jason!"

Jason looked in the direction Trini was indicating, and immediately turned to the three closest Rangers. "Trini, Billy, Kimberly, help him!" he said, and as they turned and dashed away, Jason looked back to the rest of us. "Juniors, let's go!"

With the line of Rangers on either side, Jason grit his teeth, quickly gauged the clearest path across the hall and charged forward a second later, leaping over a pile of burning wreckage, striking away a putty and deflecting a stray blaster shot with his blade as he ran. A droid spun towards him as a second putty leaped in from the side - he destroyed the robot with his blade before it could fire, before launching the putty into the air with a left backhand and continuing forward. Behind him, Sarah dived over a barrage of droid fire, rolling to her feet and destroying the robots with her blade, smashing her forearm back into a putty before kicking forward and launching several droids into the air.

Beside the Purple Ranger, Scott struck a putty aside and turned to sweep a droid off its feet, grabbing the robot as it fell and throwing it at a line of approaching droids, turning back in time to duck under a swipe from a putty and flatten the grey warrior with a high kick. A few feet away, Teresa was striking away opponents left and right, moving forward with every step and leaving a trail of defeated putties and shattered droids behind her. Beside her, Brendan was fighting desperately to stay ahead of the tide of opponents, ribbons of light whirling around him. Out of the corner of his visor, he saw a droid take aim for Teresa - he spun around and sent a beam of light spiralling towards the robot, instantly destroying it.

Teresa glanced back to the Silver Ranger. "Thanks," she called.

Brendan nodded. "Any time."

Across the room, Kimberly had reholstered her blaster and summoned her Power Bow, and picking off opponents one-by-one from afar, she steadily cleared a safe path through the battlefield for Billy, Trini and herself. As they moved forward, two putties leaped into their path but fell a second later, while an entire crowd of clashing putties and droids crashed to the ground under a volley of precisely-aimed arrows. They finally reached the fallen man, and the Pink Ranger turned back to the battle to keep watch as the Blue and Yellow Rangers knelt down beside him.

"Sir...?" Billy began, his voice barely audible over the sounds of the battle.

The man's eyes flickered open, and his gaze travelled from Billy to Trini. "Rangers..."

Billy nodded. "We're here to assist," he said, brushing away the rubble that had fallen across the man's stomach. But when he glanced down to see the extent of the man's injuries, he suddenly wished he hadn't. "I'm not sure we can... these injuries are too severe..."

The man nodded slowly, his gaze unfocussed. "Ultramarine..." he whispered.

Trini leaned forward. "Yes," she said. "What did he come here for?"

A trembling finger rose, the man pointing towards the far corner of the great hall. "Pris... m..." he mumbled, struggling with every word. "Rain... bow... pris..."

The two Rangers looked up and back to the battle. On the far side of the room, in the direction the man had pointed they could make out a raised stone platform, with a stone pegasus at each corner and a marble table in the centre. On the table was a small glass cube, delicately balancing on one of its apexes and bathed in a ring of golden light. The cube itself seemed to contain a ball of light, so bright they could only look at it a few seconds before turning away.

"The prism," nodded Billy, looking back to the old man. "He wishes to acquire the rainbow prism there?"

The man nodded weakly, and Trini raised her communicator. "Trini to all points," she said quickly. "There's a glass cube on a stone platform at the back of the room. The prism - that's what Ultramarine's after!"

Across the room, the six of us quickly looked up and around, catching sight of the stone platform at the back of the room and what had to have been the prism Trini was talking about. Halfway across the hall, I glanced from the prism to the hall's nearby centrepiece, and what was left of the marble statue standing there - dozens of putties and droids were still between me and the prism, and so turning to the statue, I leaped into the air, clearing the putties and droids around me and managing to land on the very top of the ruined statue.

Turning and changing my aim, I took to the air, somersaulting right over the battle and landing only a few metres out from the platform. Finding my footing, I spun around only to face a wall of droids - without warning, there was a flash of silver, and as the droids fell to the ground in sparking ruin, Ultramarine stepped through the cloud of smoke to face me.

The warrior stopped, smiling beneath his face-mask. "Tracking me here and figuring out what I came for," he said. "You know, I'm almost impressed."

I raised my blade. "You want the Rainbow Prism?" I said. "You'll have to go through me."

The warrior nodded. "Best news I've heard all day," he replied, and stepping forward, he slashed his right blade straight towards me. I blocked the blade with my dagger and struck aside a blow from his left, spinning around and aiming a high kick for his face mask. The warrior spun under the move, quickly carving his blades back towards me, but I ducked around the blow and leaped forward with a right hook - he blocked my fist and struck it away, batting away my left when I swung again. Finding my footing, determined not to fall, I slashed forward with my blade, but catching my wrist, he casually threw me aside, and I crashed to the ground in a crumpled heap several metres away.

But by now, the other four Junior Rangers had all reached the stone platform, and as Ultramarine turned back to the prism they all leaped towards him. Reaching the warrior first, Scott slashed high with his blade while Teresa aimed low, but the warrior blocked both attacks with his blades, batting the weapons away and slashing forward. Scott dodged around a wide slice but the warrior retracted his right blade and slammed the Blue Ranger back with a blow to the chest, before blocking an attack from Teresa, firing with his shoulder cannon and sending the White Ranger to the ground.

Even as the two Rangers rolled to a stop, Brendan and Sarah charged forward to attack. Retracting his remaining blade, Ultramarine blocked a punch from Sarah and struck her aside, turning back to Brendan and quickly ducking under a high kick before aiming a punch for Brendan's helmet. Brendan dodged the warrior's fist and retaliated with a chest-high punch, but Ultramarine struck away the blow and sent Brendan crashing with a kick to the stomach. Now recovered, Sarah leaped in from the side, striking out, but the warrior dodged her first punch before catching her second, throwing her into Brendan and effectively downing both opponents.

"Well," said Ultramarine cheerfully, "that was fun," and with nobody between him and the prism, he stepped up onto the stone platform.

"Ultramarine!"

The word echoed out even above the sounds of battle, and the warrior turned back to see the Red Ranger striding past the other Rangers towards him.

For a tiny second the warrior's composure wavered, but quickly glancing around, he smiled as he saw a piece of marble from the destroyed centrepiece on the ground beside him - in one smooth motion, Ultramarine reached down, scooped up the piece of rubble and launched it through the air towards where I was still climbing to my feet.

Jason turned without hesitating and raced over towards me. Even as the piece of rubble fell, Jason swung his fist for it, intercepting the block's path through the air and shattering it into thousands of tiny fragments only a foot above my head.

But the split-second diversion was all Ultramarine needed, and he turned back and reached out for the prism. Looking back to him, we could only watch as Ultramarine's fingers closed around the delicate glass cube, and a surge of power crackled up the warrior's arm as he pulled the prism free.

Ultramarine grinned triumphantly as he looked back down to the team. "Nice try," he said, and before we could react, he vanished from the hall in a flash of blue light, taking the prism with him. On all sides the sounds of battle abruptly ended as the putties accompanying Ultramarine teleported away with him, leaving the nine of us alone and empty-handed in the hall alongside the remains of the army of shattered robotic droids.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

In two bright flashes of light, Tommy and Zac teleported into the centre of the great hall, materialising a few feet away from the remains of the shattered marble statue. Zac turned to Tommy to speak, but the two Rangers suddenly took notice of their surroundings and stepped back in shock, their boots crunching shattered metal robot pieces and twisted, sparking wires underfoot. Glancing around from the burning tapestries along the walls and the shattered treasures on all sides to the army of broken robots littering the ground around them, the two Rangers turned to each other with raised brows.

"We missed something," said Tommy.

"Yeah, I'm gettin' that vibe," Zac nodded.

"Hey guys!" called Scott, and the two Rangers turned to find the rest of the team at the edge of the room, standing beside several darkened doorways. "Over here!"

The two Rangers jogged over and joined the rest of us, noticing that Billy and Trini were missing.

"How'd you guys go?" asked Kim.

"Pretty good," Zac replied. "We were just beating him when he turned and ran. Hate it when they do that."

"Makes sense," I said. "They didn't need to distract us anymore. Ultramarine got what he came for," and I nodded over to the empty stone platform.

Tommy frowned. "Not good," he said. "What about Billy and Trini?"

"Don't worry, they're okay," Sarah replied. "Just inside, checking out this place's computer system."

The two Rangers nodded, and a few metres away, Jason emerged from one of the doorways, speaking into his communicator. "Still nothing, Zordon?"

"No, I'm afraid not," came Zordon's voice. "There are numerous listings in our archives for magical prisms, but Alpha and I have found nothing matching the description of this 'rainbow prism'."

Jason nodded. "It's a safe bet that wasn't what Ultramarine wanted anyway."

"You mean the light inside the prism?"

"Yeah," Jason replied. "Whatever it was, there was definitely something inside that prism, something powerful."

Listening to the conversation, Teresa nodded. "It was glowing so brightly, it was practically humming."

"I have no doubt you are correct Rangers," Zordon said. "You soundly defeated Ultramarine last time - it makes sense that he wouldn't risk another direct confrontation until he's given himself more power."

"But if we still don't know anything about this power..." I began.

"Then we need to find out, fast," Zordon replied.

"Billy and Trini are looking now," Jason said. "We'll let you know if they find anything."

"Excellent," Zordon replied, and the communicator fell silent.

"So big blue got himself a power-up?" asked Zac.

Jason nodded. "Power we don't know anything about," he said. "So yeah, I'm worried."

Glancing around at all the destroyed treasures, Tommy's gaze fell over a decidedly-human shape lying beneath a blanket on the ground a few metres away. His expression fell, and the Green Ranger looked back to the group.

"What happened?" he asked, nodding over to where the blanket lay. "Who were they?"

"He owned this place, we think," I said.

Kim nodded. "We got here too late - Ultramarine had already attacked by the time we got inside. He managed to tell us what Ultramarine was after, but then just kind of... slipped away. We couldn't do anything to save him."

"Damn," breathed Zac softly. "Poor guy."

Teresa nodded. "I wonder who he was, what the deal is with this place."

"According to the files we found," came a voice, and we all turned to see Trini and Billy step out of the nearest doorway and walk over to join us, "the entire island is basically a private museum, all for the one man," Trini continued. "He was a collector, specialising in all things magical and mystical, and going by what we found, a fairly unscrupulous one at that."

Billy nodded. "Ironically enough, every artifact on the island all belonged to someone else prior," he said, "and they were all taken from their original owners with a great deal of force."

Kimberly looked over to the man's body. "I hate to say it," she said, "but I still kinda feel sorry for him." She shrugged. "Even if he was major badguy material."

Tommy nodded. "I guess when life catches up to you, there's not much you can do about it."

Jason looked over to the Blue and Yellow Rangers. "What did you guys find?" he asked.

"A lot of his files were just too well protected to read," Billy replied, "at least not without a week of decrypting. At any rate, we suspected right - the Prism does seem to contain a powerful energy source, which is undoubtedly what Ultramarine came here for."

"That's something," said Teresa. "Anything else?"

Trini shook her head. "There was nothing else on the power source itself, but we did find out where he got it - Sydney, Australia."

"Sweet," nodded Zac. "Home town advantage. Kind of."

Billy nodded. "The files contain reference to a confrontation of some kind - our collector seemed to have successfully fought two other heroes for this power, only a year or so ago."

There was a moment of silence. "Hold that thought a second," began Brendan. "Two other heroes? As in, not-us heroes?"

"From what we found, evidently," Billy replied.

"Cool," Brendan replied.

"Okay," said Jason, "it's not much but it's something. Billy, Trini and Kim," and he turned to each Ranger in turn, "take what you found, track down those two heroes and find out everything you can about the power Ultramarine stole. It's a longshot, but if we're going to stand a chance against him, we need to know what we're dealing with."

"You got it," said Kim.

"The rest of us can head back to the Command Centre," Jason continued, "and tell Zordon everything we found. Ultramarine's already a step ahead of us, so we need to be ready."

Everyone nodded, reaching for our communicators. "Good luck guys," I said to the Yellow, Blue and Pink Rangers beside me.

"Thanks," Trini replied. "You too," and tapping the top buttons on our communicators, we all teleported from the scene.

* * *

The eleven of us shot through the sky over the blue ocean beneath us, all heading towards the Australian mainland that appeared on the horizon and rapidly grew closer. But as we approached, the blue, yellow and pink trails shot away from the rest of us, following the eastern seaboard south. Coastal villages and fishing towns flashed by underneath, and soon, Australia's most recognisable cityscape rose to meet them. Reaching the city, the Rangers shot down through the Sydney skyline, and materialised between two skyscrapers seconds later.

Glancing around, the three Rangers took in their new surroundings. It was still mid-morning, and with the sun still low in the sky, the alleyway the Rangers had arrived in was cool and dark. Mist rose from various vents along the ground, several dumpsters sat further down the street, and rubbish covered the ground on all sides. Turning, the Rangers saw that one end of the side-street opened out into the bright city beyond, while the other end vanished into shadow around the side of a building.

"Hmm," said Kim. "Inner-city living. Nothing beats it."

Trini smiled. "Billy, is this the place?"

The Blue Ranger nodded. "Affirmative," he replied. "I mean, these are the coordinates in the collector's files, at least, the ones I could decipher."

Kimberly stepped forward to peer around a corner and down another side-street. "So do we even know who we're looking for?"

"Unfortunately no," Billy shrugged. "The collector provided no description of the heroes he fought or even any names. Just a reference to two heroes with extraordinary abilities."

"We're better off sticking to the backstreets," Trini nodded, glancing to the city street in the distance. "I don't think we'll find them out there, and keeping a low profile ourselves would be a good plan."

Kimberly nodded, but something on the wall suddenly caught her attention. "Hey guys, check it out!"

The other two Rangers immediately jogged over to find Kimberly staring at a picture somebody had spraypainted onto the side of the building. Despite the style of the artist, they could clearly make out two figures, although rain had long since washed away the words beneath them. The one on the left was wearing red and black, had a black full-face mask and appeared to be carrying a skateboard, while the figure on the right had long red hair and wore green.

"Good work Kim," Trini said. "I guess these are our heroes."

Billy nodded. "They must be."

Kimberly glanced to the words beneath the picture, but couldn't decipher them. "At least we're on the right track."

Trini nodded. "Let's look around," she said, and the three Rangers headed further down into the alley.

* * *

While Billy, Trini and Kimberly continued to explore the dark city backstreets for clues to the whereabouts of their quarry, the eight of us arrived back in the Command Centre, and we quickly relayed what Billy and Trini had found on to Zordon and Alpha, the two listening patiently to our story.

"So you still haven't been able to find anything on whatever was inside that prism?" asked Sarah.

Zordon shook his head. "I'm afraid not," he replied. "The collector you spoke of guarded his secrets well. I'm sorry to report that Alpha and I have no information on either him or his collection."

"What's going to happen to the island anyway?" asked Teresa. "I mean, we can't just leave him there, can we?"

Zordon shook his head. "No outside connection exists to the island's data system," he replied. "With enough time, Alpha should be able to gain access, and once that happens, hopefully we'll be able to learn the collector's name and whether he has any friends or relatives, and then begin returning the artifacts on the island to their rightful owners." Zordon paused. "But I'm sorry to say at the moment, the collector's fate is the very least of our problems."

I nodded. "I can't believe Ultramarine beat us," I said. "I mean, what now? We sit and wait until he attacks?"

Jason turned to me. "He might have gotten to the power he wanted, but we're not beaten yet," he said. "Billy, Trini and Kim will find what they're looking for, and in the meantime, I don't know, we can go back over everything we know. There has to be something we've missed, some small clue..."

Across the room, Tommy looked up. "Why don't we start with the obvious?" he asked. "Zordon, Ultramarine's never been to Earth before, right?"

The sage shook his head. "No, not that I'm aware of," he replied.

"So how would Ultramarine have even known about this collector in the first place?" Tommy asked.

"Rita must've told him about it," said Scott. "She's just using him to destroy us, like she did last time."

The Green Ranger shook his head. "Fair enough, but I don't buy it," he replied. "She just casually dropped the prism into conversation? I mean if she knew about it and we didn't..."

"That's true," said Zac. "Rita's gotten a lot sneakier lately."

"Tommy is correct, but I have to admit, I find something else unusual regarding Ultramarine's actions this morning," said Zordon, and we all looked up to him. "If Ultramarine was merely looking to grant himself more power, there are dozens if not hundreds of magical artifacts on Earth alone that he could've pursued, most of which would be far less-guarded than the prism. Which begs a fairly important question."

At the back of the room, Brendan nodded. "Yeah," he said. "So why did he go after _this_ one?"

* * *

Stepping out of the sun and into the cool shadow, Ultramarine followed the tunnel deeper under the mountain, his footsteps echoing down into darkness. Glancing around as he walked, the warrior couldn't help but notice the figures watching him on all sides, carved and painted into the rocky walls. Soon enough, the tunnel opened out into a large natural cavern lit by burning torches that lined the walls, the light flickering over the army of putties spread throughout the cave. But as Ultramarine entered the cave, Rita immediately approached from the far side, meeting him in the centre of the cavern. And even despite the shadows cloaking them both, Ultramarine could clearly see the delight in Rita's eyes.

"You have it?" she asked, barely containing the excitement in her voice.

Ultramarine reached down into the velvet pouch hanging by his belt and pulled the shimmering glass cube free, lightly resting it in Rita's outstretched hand. "Does this answer your question, witch?"

Rita's face literally lit up as she held the prism high, before placing it carefully down onto a small stone platform beside her.

"Finster!" she called, and Rita's master scientist scurried across the join them.

"Yes my queen?" Finster asked.

"There it is," she said. "Get to work," and she turned back to Ultramarine. "This is perfect. The Rangers have no clue what's about to happen."

Ultramarine nodded, smiling with evil delight beneath his helmet. "I wanted them broken, and this will totally crush them. All we need to do now is lure them out into the open..."

* * *

The Command Centre alarm suddenly began to flash, and all eight of us glanced around to Zordon and Alpha.

"Rangers!" cried Alpha. "The sensors have just detected several powerful energy signals, at three different points in the city - one in the northern suburbs, one west in the industrial district, and one in the centre of town."

"We have to check them out," said Sarah. "Whatever they could be."

"It's a set-up," said Teresa. "It has to be."

"But that makes even less sense," said Scott. "Ultramarine already has the prism, what does he need to split us up for? Wouldn't he just attack and be done with it?"

"He most certainly would," Zordon said. "As I'm sure you can imagine, subtlety is an art lost on Ultramarine. We have no choice but to investigate these signals, but until we've figured out whatever game Ultramarine is playing, be very careful Rangers."

Jason nodded, and glanced around the group. "Peter and I will head into the northern suburbs," he said. "Tommy, you go with Scott and Sarah into the industrial district, and Zac, Teresa and Brendan, you guys head into the centre of town. Zordon's right - they're laying a trap, so be on your guard. Let's go," and we all reached for our communicators.


	5. Chapter 4

Author's notes - welcome to chapter four :). For the record, the two characters I introduce in this chapter are all mine, two original heroes I wrote into this series (although I did have help in their creation). Oh, and enjoy Trini's moment of pure badassedness later on in the chapter :).

**Chapter Four**

"Hey guys, check it out," said Kimberly, staring up at the side of an office block and beckoning the other two Rangers over. "Here's another one!"

Trini and Billy quickly jogged over to join Kimberly, reaching her side and turning to find another picture of the same two figures, one with a skateboard and the other wearing green with long red hair.

"Wow," said Trini. "That's, what, four over the last couple of blocks?"

Billy nodded. "Five," he replied, and the three Rangers turned to continue along the alley. "In fact I'm beginning to suspect they're more than just graffiti. Particularly given the regularity and concentration of them."

Kimberly turned to him. "What, like a street sign or something?" she asked.

Billy nodded. "Affirmative," he said. "From the looks of it, these particular alleys fall under the territorial limits of these two characters, and thusly they serve to warn trespassers."

"That sounds ominous," said Trini.

Ahead of them, the alley met another side-street at right-angles, but as they approached, Kimberly began to hear a voice, soft but distinct, muttering words at a rapid pace. Raising her hand and signalling the others to stop, she carefully peeked around the corner.

Down the side-street, halfway between the Rangers and the city beyond, a young man with bleached blond hair and wearing tattered clothes and a dark jacket was leaning against the wall, half-hidden in shadow and casually thumbing through an expensive leather wallet, muttering gleefully to himself as he flipped through the contents.

With a smile, Kim turned back to Billy and Trini. "Never fear guys," she said. "We just found some help."

The 'help' in question was currently enjoying the fruits of what had been a particularly lucrative morning. Seventeen-year-old Danny 'Car Crash' Blackwell knew the block was definitely off-limits, but the risk had been pretty worth it, and his smile grew steadily wider as he continued to explore the contents of the wallet. But he was so engrossed in his new-found wealth that the first clue that he was no longer alone was the sound of several people suddenly dropping down before him.

He immediately looked up, his smile vanishing in a heartbeat, and seeing two imposing figures emerging from the shadows, one on either side, he shrank back against the wall, still clutching the wallet tightly.

"Grind! Tanith!" he said quickly, glancing between the two dark shapes. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean... I was in this part of the city looking for somebody... I didn't... I wasn't..." but his voice trailed off as a third figure emerged from the shadows, and his brow lowered. "Who are you?"

Kim grinned beneath her visor. "The Pink Power Ranger," she replied, stepping into the light. "Nice to meet you."

Danny froze, repeating the words under his breath. But then, glancing back to the first two shapes and slowly recognising the costume shared by all three, his eyes went wide and he shrank back even further. "Oh_ crap_..."

"There's nothing to be afraid of," said Trini. "In fact, we need your help. Those two names you just mentioned, Grind and...?"

"Tanith?"

"Tanith," Trini nodded. "Tell us, the pictures we've seen on the buildings around here, is that them?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "This is their turf. I'm not supposed to..."

"So they're like the local heroes around here?" Kim asked. Danny nodded, and the Pink Ranger continued. "Well, we need to find them. Do you know where they are?"

Danny glanced from one Ranger to the other, and shook his head.

"It's really important," Kim continued, and then realised what the deal needed. "I totally give you my word, we won't tell them we saw you."

The thief lowered his gaze, contemplating his options, but after a few seconds, looked back up to them. "Three blocks that way," he said, pointing down the alley. "Underground parking lot that leads to a big abandoned warehouse. Can't miss it."

The three Rangers all looked to each other and nodded. "Thanks," said Kimberly, stepping forward to lightly pat the street-thief on the shoulder. "You've been a big help," and the Rangers turned away.

"Wait..." said Danny, stepping forward, "that was it? You're not gonna kung-fu me or summon a zord or something...?"

Trini smiled beneath her helmet. "Of course not," she said. "We're the good guys, remember? In fact you may have just been crucial in helping us save the planet. As for that," and she nodded to the leather wallet, "we know for a fact that you're going to take that straight to the nearest police station and hand it in as lost property, because you're a kind-hearted and responsible young man, concerned about his fellow citizens." She paused. "And that includes those notes you tucked into your back pocket while we were talking."

Danny nodded dumbly, and hesitating only a second longer, turned and bolted, disappearing from sight a few seconds later.

"C'mon," said Billy, "I believe we have a lead," and the Rangers turned and ran back in the direction Danny had indicated. "I must say Trini, I'm impressed."

Kimberly glanced over to the Yellow Ranger. "Me too. That was totally cool."

Trini nodded. "You just have to talk to people in their own language," she replied.

* * *

Jason and I slowly made our way through a park north of the city, in the suburbs known collectively as Kawana, the highway in the distance and one of the area's many canals on our left, both of us armed with our Power Swords.

"If this was a trap," I began, "I have to say, I think it needs work."

Jason smiled. "Maybe Ultramarine's trying to weaken us through boredom."

"Ah. The slow burn approach to supervillainy?"

"Yeah."

I turned back to the Red Ranger beside me. "Hey, about yesterday afternoon," I said. "Can I ask, I mean I know you explained about our blade blasters, but was that all? I got the feeling there was more to it than that, and Ultramarine being the jerk that he is interrupted us anyway..."

Jason nodded, and turning to me, lowered his voice. "You're right, there was more to it than that," he said. "It was my way of saying that I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Well, for what you said yesterday morning," Jason replied. "I mean, it's hardly your fault for not knowing something if the guy who's supposed to be teaching you hasn't actually told you a damn thing." He paused, shaking his head. "You know I was the same when I first started teaching Billy karate, I just charged ahead and left him behind me. I picked up this 'cryptic teacher' thing somewhere, and it tends to show up at the worst times. Forgive me?"

I nodded. "Well of course."

"Thanks," Jason replied. "I'll do better next time, I promise."

I turned to him. "It's all we can do," I said with a nod. Behind his helmet, Jason smiled, and we continued on through the park.

* * *

The three Rangers soon saw that Danny's directions had been trustworthy - following the alley past three more blocks, the street sloped down into an underground parking hangar that seemed to lead straight into the lower levels of an enormous dark warehouse, both long since abandoned and in total disrepair. Daylight vanished as the Rangers stepped down into the deserted garage, the three barely visible even to each other in the darkness, and in the silence of the place, they began to hear an odd rhythmic noise rolling out from the building facing them.

"Dark and creepy," nodded Kimberly. "Bad real estate deal, I guess. So what now?"

"This has to be the place," said Trini. "I wonder what that noise is."

"Unless I'm mistaken, it sounds very much like skateboards," said Billy slowly. "Dozens of them, on a concrete floor."

The three Rangers came to a stop a few metres out from where the parking garage ran into the warehouse. "Anyone see a door?" asked Kimberly.

"I can barely see you guys," Trini smiled. "There has to be an entrance somewhere, though. C'mon..."

But before they'd taken two steps forward, a voice suddenly rang out, short and sharp.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing, **don't**."

Glancing around for the speaker, the Rangers looked up to see two dark figures standing on a ledge overlooking the hangar, silhouetted against the shadows behind them, the voice seeming to belong to the figure on the left.

Trini stepped forward. "We're sorry to intrude," she began, "but..."

"You're trespassing on our territory," the voice interrupted, young and male from the tone. "Leave. _Now_."

"Look, we mean no harm," said Kimberly. "We're the..."

"This is your last warning," came a second voice, the figure on the right this time, young but definitely female. "You will not get another."

Kimberly raised her hands in frustration. "Well if you'd turn the lights on..."

"And you just ran out of chances," the first voice said. "Go!"

With that, the empty carpark suddenly came alive with sound and motion - the two figures leaped down towards the Rangers, the speaker on the left attacking Billy while the figure on the right somersaulted towards Kimberly. Standing between them, Trini glanced quickly from one to the other, about to help when she too came under attack, as somewhere in the dark, doors crashed open and skateboarders - dozens of them, all young men - raced towards her.

Reaching Billy, the shadowy figure immediately swung a roundhouse punch, and wary of his own superstrength, the Blue Ranger quickly ducked back out of range. "This is ridicu..." he began, cut off as his shadowy opponent swung again - Billy blocked the blow, struck away a low kick and caught his opponent's fist. "Look, we're here to..." but the Blue Ranger ducked as the figure aimed high with a spin kick. Spinning around, the figure unhooked something strapped to his back - Billy recognised it as a skateboard, even in the low light - and swung it for Billy's helmet. The Blue Ranger spun around the blow, ducking another blow and forcing his opponent back with the lightest blow he could manage. "If you could just listen..."

Across the battlefield, the other dark figure leaped towards Kimberly, raising its hands and sending bolts of light spiralling towards the Pink Ranger. Kimberly leaped to the side as the bolts smashed harmlessly into the ground behind her - spinning back around, she summoned her Power Bow and aimed a volley of arrows at the ground a step ahead of her opponent. But raising their hand, the figure froze the arrows in midair, before leaping over them and attacking, Kimberly ducking under a blow and striking back.

A few metres away, Trini found herself surrounded by a steadily-closing circle of skateboarders. They waited only a second longer, and attacked - Trini blocked a high punch from the left and lightly struck the youth away, turning to kick a board out from under an attacker on the right and sending him crashing before catching a blow from behind and spinning a third attacker away.

Trini glanced from the skateboarders around her to Billy and Kimberly, and shook her head.

"Enough," she said, and summoning her Power Daggers, she threw one for Billy's opponent on the left, the dagger taking the skateboard clean out of the figure's hands and pinning it to the wall behind him, before aiming the other straight towards Kimberly's opponent. Oblivious to the incoming weapon, the shadowy figure raised their arm to attack again, the dagger embedding in the warehouse wall an inch between thumb and forefinger.

Everybody suddenly froze, and silence fell. The two figures turned to look at the daggers that had suddenly materialised beside them, the Pink and Blue Rangers stepped back over to Trini, and the circle of skateboarders immediately began widening.

Trini stepped forward. "If you could just listen," she said, breaking the silence. "We are not your enemies and have no wish to fight. My friends and I are the Blue, Pink and Yellow Power Rangers - surely you've heard of us. We're here looking for Grind and Tanith, as we need their help and we don't have much time."

Another moment of silence followed. The shadowy figures glanced back to each other, and prying his skateboard free, the figure who'd fought Billy nodded and raised his voice. "Yo, Vinnie - hit the lights, will ya?"

The sound of footsteps echoed down from somewhere above, and without warning, spotlights along the roof flashed to life, bathing the entire area in bright light and finally showing the Rangers who they were facing.

The figure opposite Billy looked to be a young man in his late teens, maybe a year or two older than the Rangers. He wore a red and black shirt and black pants, his clothes more streetwise than superhero, and his head was covered by a full-face black bandanna that left his mouth and chin free and gave the hint of spiky blond hair at the back. His expression was cool, his posture suggesting somebody used to movement and action, battle-scars evident on his arms and legs.

Opposite him, the figure who'd confronted Kimberly stood in stark contrast. She was a young woman, the same age as the skateboarder, tall with long red hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a green robe, with a green skirt over similarly-coloured boots. Her expression was one of amazement and growing joy, and her smile was bright and gave the unmistakable hint of magic.

Around them, the skateboarders who'd fought Trini were staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the three Rangers, several running straight into each other and tumbling to the ground.

The faintest hint of a smile crossed the blond skateboarder. "Everybody, inside," he said. The skateboarders immediately obeyed the order, picking themselves up and vanishing into the warehouse through several doorways now visible in the light. "Sorry about all that," he continued, looking back to the Rangers. "I'm Grind."

"And I'm Tanith!" said the girl. "It's an honour to meet you!" Approaching Kim, she looked down to the Pink Ranger's glove for a second, but rallied and shook it anyway. "I apologise for our misunderstanding," she said, and glanced to Grind. "I believe I may have said that they did not look particularly threatening."

Grind raised his hands in defeat. "Okay, you got this one."

"I seem to recall getting the last few as well," Tanith replied with an innocent smile.

Grind shook his head but smiled, and strapping the board to his back, walked over. "We don't have a lot of friends," he explained. "When we saw you approach..."

"Don't worry about it," Kimberly replied. "We're heroes who've never met before, I think it'd be a record if we _didn't_ fight."

Grind laughed. "Damn union rules," he said. "No hard feelings then?"

"Negative," Billy replied. "I didn't harm you before, did I?"

Grind shook his head. "I've taken worse falls grinding off a kick flip to frontside railslide."

The Blue Ranger nodded, but quickly glanced to Kimberly. "That's a no," she whispered.

"So how can we help you?" asked Tanith.

"I think we should get inside first," said Grind. "We can't stand out here all day."

"Of course," nodded Tanith. "Rangers, please, follow us."

The pair stepped over to the side of the warehouse, and while Grind held one of the doors open, Tanith led the Rangers inside. Although it took their eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dark, they soon saw Billy had been right - aside from a wall of smaller rooms in one corner of the building, the warehouse's interior seemed to be filled with concrete ramps, platforms and arches, an indoor skatepark for what looked to be dozens of black-clad skateboarders, most of them boys but with a few girls visible in the crowd. The Rangers instantly caught the attention of several nearby board-riders, and from there, a rising murmur spread quickly through the building.

"Wow," said Kim. "Cosy."

Tanith nodded. "It is dark," she began, as Grind joined her, "but surprisingly hygienic."

"This way," Grind said, and they led the Rangers across the warehouse towards the smaller rooms in the corner. As they walked, the Rangers couldn't help but notice another picture of Grind spraypainted onto the far wall, but underneath were hundreds of skateboards, every board either broken or missing wheels, all piled up together in what was unmistakably a shrine.

Kimberly turned to Grind. "So you know our story," she said. "But what's yours?"

Grind shrugged. "Nothin' to tell," he replied, then turned to Kim and lowered his gaze. "No family, at least that I know of. I grew up on the streets. Learned how to fight, learned how to take care of myself and learned how to skate, in that order." He paused, and glanced to the growing crowd watching the procession. "The groupies all came on their own, and I never got rid of them," he added with a smile.

Trini turned to Tanith. "You're a team?" she asked, and when Tanith nodded, she continued. "Your powers are very impressive. Where are you from?"

Tanith nodded. "An age ago," she began, "my clan of faeries lost our home in a great battle. The Queen of our people, my mother, led us to a red world across the stars, what you know as Mars. Eventually we made the decision to return, but during the trip I fell forward through time and landed here." Tanith looked across to Grind and smiled. "Grind found me and protected me, and when I grew well, I joined him."

Kim stopped, her brow lowered, and glanced from Grind to Tanith. "So, wait a second, lemme see if I've got this right - you're a skateboarding cult-hero with nothing left to lose," and she turned to Tanith, "and you're a time-travelling Martian fairy princess?"

"And you fight crime?" asked Trini.

Grind nodded. "Somebody has to," he replied. "There's two sides to every city, but people only ever see the shiny side. They never look too closely at the shadows, and there's kids in those shadows who need help, every day."

"Wow," breathed Kim. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound elitist or anything, it's just, you guys are an unlikely pair, you know?"

Grind smiled. "Don't worry, we get that a lot," he said. "It's hard for us, and hell, even the cops don't like us much. But this is important, so why play the game by somebody's else rules, right?"

Kimberly was silent for a second, and then nodded. "Yeah," she said softly. "You're right."

"Anyway, we're here," he said, and reaching the far wall, Grind pulled open one of the doors and ushered everybody inside, shutting the door behind them. The room looked surprisingly homely, well-lit with a sink against one wall, some chairs and a large table in the centre.

"So now that we're all friends," Grind began, "what can we do for you?"

Trini nodded. "Two weeks ago we fought a powerful warrior named Ultramarine," she said. "We destroyed him, or at least we thought we did, but as of yesterday he's back."

"And somewhat angry about it," continued Billy. "This morning Ultramarine attacked an island in the south Pacific. Now, we followed him there but we were too late to prevent him from stealing an artifact kept on the island. It was a glass cube, a prism, with some kind of light or powerful energy inside it."

Grind and Tanith immediately looked to each other. "This Ultramarine, he stole the light?" asked Tanith.

"Affirmative," Billy replied. "He fought off the island's security force and killed the island's owner to reach it."

"The collector," said Grind with a nod. "Nice guy."

Kimberly nodded. "Well that's what brings us here," she said. "The files he had referred to you guys, and we need to know everything we can about whatever it was Ultramarine stole. Ultramarine isn't the kind of guy who takes losing well, and we're pretty sure he's going to use it to give himself a power-up, so he'll be able to beat us."

Grind shook his head. "No," he replied. "That wasn't it. The light in the prism can't be used like that."

"Why not?" asked Trini.

"Because," Tanith began, "I realise how this is going to sound, but the light inside that prism is _alive_."

There was a stunned silence in the room, as the three Rangers all turned to each other in disbelief. "It's... what?" said Kim finally.

"Alive," Grind repeated. "Not alive as in 'likes old movies and long walks on the beach', but still. Alive."

Billy leaned back against the wall. "You know," he began thoughtfully, "while the idea of sentient light is, at first, quite baffling, the more you consider it the less extraordinary it sounds. Light on its own exhibits a number of properties which defy physical explanation, and coupled with various degrees of magical manipulation, it's theoretically possible, to say the least."

Billy stopped and looked back to the group, Grind turning to the other two Rangers with a raised brow, and Tanith smiled and took up the story. "We came across the light perhaps eighteen months ago, deep in the night," she said. "It seemed to like us, so we took care of it, and protected it."

"But the collector came after it?" said Trini.

Grind nodded. "We fought him, tried to keep it safe," he said, then sighed. "But we lost big-time. I mean, that's what he designed the glass cube for, to capture and keep the light."

"We never thought we'd hear word of the light again," said Tanith, turning to Kimberly. "We were devastated."

"Trust us," said Kim. "We'll get the light back and keep it safe."

"You have our word," nodded Trini.

"We both wish you the best of luck," replied Tanith. "But I fear that for all our help, we've only exchanged one dilemma for another."

Billy nodded. "Namely, if Ultramarine was never after the light," he began, turning to Trini and Kimberly, "then what did he want the _prism_ for?"


	6. Chapter 5

Author's notes -- Ghost, thanks for your feedback :). I'm glad you liked Tanith and Grind, thanks for the compliments. They're two great characters.**  
**

**Chapter Five**

"Well this is where the signal was coming from," said Zac, glancing around the empty park and then back to Teresa and Brendan. "But the only thing out of place is us. What do you think?"

Teresa shook her head. "There's nothing here," she said. "Ultramarine's just trying to wear us down."

"Hey guys, wait up a sec," said Brendan, jogging back to glance down a grove of trees to the empty basketball courts in the distance. "Courts are deserted," he called. "Must be an away match."

Zac smiled. "Should we head back?" he asked. "Tell the others it was a false alarm?"

Without warning, there was a flash of blue light, and Ultramarine himself suddenly dropped down in the park only a few metres away from them.

"Like so much else," he growled, "how very wrong you are," and raising his wrist blades, the warrior charged towards them.

Zac raised his communicator. "Guys, ambush, Ultramarine's here at the park... whoa!" he cried, leaping to safety as Ultramarine slashed his wrist blades for the Black Ranger. Zac landed and found his footing as Teresa attacked, leaping into the air with a high jump kick. Ultramarine ducked back under the move and slashed with his blades as Teresa spun to face him - the White Ranger blocked the warrior's left hand and struck away his right, aiming a judo chop for the warrior's throat. But grabbing her fist, Ultramarine threw the White Ranger away, before turning to follow after Zac.

A few metres away, Brendan had watched as Ultramarine materialised in the park, and was just sprinting over towards the warrior when a golden form leaped towards him from the side, taking him to the ground. Rolling to his feet, Brendan summoned his sai with a thought, and gazed across to see who had blindsided him.

"Scorpina?" he asked, raising his sai.

"Your fight is not with them this day," Scorpina replied, "but with me."

Brendan nodded. "In that case, I'm all yours."

Scorpina sneered and blasted several fireballs at her opponent. Brendan dived forward over the blasts, and as they smashed harmlessly into the ground behind him, he rolled to his feet, taking to the air with a high kick. Blocking the Silver Ranger's boot, Scorpina slashed at him with her sword, but Brendan caught the blade with one sai and struck forward with the other. Scorpina quickly stepped back out of danger, before pressing forward and swinging her sword wildly. Brendan ducked under one slice and spun around a second, and when she swung again, he blocked her arm and forced her back with a low kick. Regaining her footing, Scorpina swung back in a wide horizontal arc, but Brendan raised his sai and struck the sword away.

"Having fun?" he asked.

"Oh I've just begun," she replied. "You're not so tough. Feel my sting!" And running her hand over her sword to charge the weapon, she spun it through the air towards Brendan.

Brendan stood his ground. "Shield!" he cried, and a wave of light blasted out from his chest, continuing forward in an ever-expanding radius. The energy wave met the sword in an explosion of sparks, and the sword dropped harmlessly to the ground.

Across the battlefield, Scorpina watched as her blade landed on the grass, and gritting her teeth, charged back towards her silver opponent, leaping forward with a high kick. But Brendan easily sidestepped the move, and as she landed and spun back to face him, he lashed out with a low kick before slashing again with his sai. She dodged the moves and retaliated with a roundhouse punch followed by a low foot sweep. He jumped up and over the sweep, lashing out with his sai as Scorpina spun to her feet. Scorpina blocked the blows, and kicking away a low swipe, aimed for Brendan's throat with one hand while using her spiked wrist guards as weapons. Brendan blocked one arm and wrapped his own hand around Scorpina's wrist, suddenly locking the two opponents in place, neither able to move.

"Not as easy as you thought, huh?" grunted Brendan.

The villainess smiled. "I must admit, Silver Ranger, I found you a good challenge," she replied. "But you've already lost this fight."

"I have?" he asked. "When were you gonna tell me? To you?"

She shook her head. "No, to Rita. Now!"

Brendan's eyes went wide, and the Silver Ranger threw Scorpina away, spinning around on the spot and raising his arms to summon his shield. But he was a second too late - even as he turned, Rita had already stepped out from behind a large tree, and leveling her wand at Brendan, she sent a massive blast of energy spiralling towards him. The entire area went up in sparks and smoke as the Silver Ranger was slammed backwards into a treetrunk. For a brief second Brendan saw stars, before everything went black and he collapsed forward onto the grass.

A few metres away, Ultramarine blocked a roundhouse punch and smashed Zac away from him, and glanced past the two Rangers to Rita and Scorpina. "Excellent," he nodded, and turned back to Teresa and Zac. "Thank you for being so accommodating," he said, and with that, the warrior teleported away.

"What was that about?" wondered Teresa, then glanced over her shoulder to where Ultramarine had been looking, only to see Rita and Scorpina standing over the unmoving figure of the Silver Ranger. "Brendan!"

The two Rangers immediately turned and raced over towards their fallen comrade, but before they were even halfway there, they could only watch helplessly as Rita grinned evilly and she, Scorpina and Brendan vanished from the scene.

* * *

"We need to find him, as soon as we can," said Teresa, glancing around the Central Chamber. "He needs us, we can't let him down..."

"And we won't," said Tommy, "but we're not going to be much use to him if we're completely freaked out."

Teresa turned to him. "Ultramarine has Brendan," she said. "I'm panicking." But hearing her own voice, Teresa sighed and looked away, raising her hand to her forehead. "I'm sorry Tommy, it's just... Brendan. We were there, we should've done something, helped him."

"Don't worry," Tommy replied. "We _will_ get him back."

Zac nodded. "We won't lose another Ranger to him, and sure as heck not Brendan," he said. "Alpha, tell us where he is and who we have to hurt to get him back."

"Ayeyiyi Rangers," Alpha replied, "if only it was that simple. Wherever Brendan is, he's shielded from our scanners, otherwise we never would've lost him in the first place."

"Indeed," said Zordon. "He is beyond even my reach. Short of Ultramarine telling us, the only way we're going to locate him is a manual search of the entire Grid."

"But that'll take too long," I said softly. "I mean he's counting on us, we can't lose him." I paused, and lowered my gaze. "I can't."

Beside me, Jason rested a hand on my shoulder. "So we get moving and we find him," he said. "We can do this."

Sarah shook her head. "This just stinks," she said. "Ultramarine already has the prism, doesn't he? Why did he need to take Brendan as well? This just doesn't make any sense."

"We can ask him," I said. "Right before we rip his damn head off."

Teresa nodded. "I second that."

"Well maybe they..." started Scott, but was interrupted as Alpha burst into a fit of 'ayeyiyi's.

"Rangers!" the robot cried. "We have incoming! Billy, Trini and Kimberly are..." but even as Alpha spoke, three bright energy trails shot down through the ceiling, and the Blue, Yellow and Pink Rangers materialised in the centre of the room.

The Rangers immediately glanced around the Central Chamber, and Kimberly turned to Jason. "Where's Brendan?" she asked urgently.

"Ultramarine lured us out, ambushed us and kidnapped Brendan," Jason replied. "We don't know why."

"We _do_," said Trini. "And we're in big trouble."

Billy nodded. "We followed the trail from the collector's files and found the two heroes he fought, a skateboarding cult-hero and a time-travelling Martian fairy princess."

Dead silence followed, and Kim nodded. "Yeah, it's been that kinda day."

"The thing is, back on the island, we heard the collector wrong," Trini said. "He wasn't talking about a _prism_, he was talking about a _prison_. Ultramarine was after a power-up, yes, but he was never going to use the light in the Rainbow Prison. I realise how this sounds, but the light in that prison was alive."

Billy nodded. "Not alive in any sense we'd be familiar with, but conscious, self-aware. Sentient."

"Alive?" I repeated, with raised brows.

"Exactly," Trini said. "The collector used the prison to capture the light, which is the reason Ultramarine went after it. The prison is what he wanted all along."

"Why?" asked Teresa.

"Because that's how he's going to steal Brendan's powers," she replied.

There was a moment of stunned silence. "Are you sure?" asked Zac. "I mean... that's..."

"Positive," Billy replied. "It fits all parameters."

"It makes sense," nodded Trini.

Scott shook his head. "We can't let that happen," he said. "Can you imagine Brendan's power in the hands of Ultramarine? Definitely not good."

Jason nodded, and looked back to Trini. "What about the light itself? If Ultramarine was only after the prison..."

"When Ultramarine returned, Rita must've seen the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone," Trini replied. "Once Ultramarine had stolen the prison, she sent him after us, to steal Brendan's powers and weaken us if not beat us outright. It didn't even matter whether Ultramarine's plan worked or not, just so long as we weren't keeping track of Rita."

"Yeah, because Rita got exactly what she wanted all along," finished Kim. "Pure light."

Jason sagged back the control panel in disbelief. "I can't believe we missed it."

"What?" asked Tommy.

Jason turned back to us. "She's got pure light," he replied. "She's gonna go back to the Temple of Lothos, she's gonna try to open those gates again." He paused and lowered his voice, as if even the mere suggestion were enough to make it true. "And this time, she's going to succeed."

* * *

Rita grinned with evil delight as several putties lowered the prone figure of the Silver Ranger to the ground, resting him against the cave wall and chaining his wrists and legs to the wall.

"Excellent," Ultramarine said, standing beside her. "They didn't even suspect our true intentions."

"They probably still don't," Rita replied. The putties moved away and Rita leant down to lightly place the rainbow prison on a rocky table a few feet away from Brendan. Stepping back, Rita waved her hand and muttered a soft chant under her breath - seconds later, the air between Brendan and the Prison began to shimmer, a thin beam of shining light soon extending from the Silver Ranger to the cube.

"The prison is siphoning away his power," Rita nodded. "Now it's only a matter of time."

"And his power will come to me?" Ultramarine asked.

The witch nodded. "Your life-force is now connected to the prison," she replied. "When enough of the boy's power is contained within, it will spill over and you'll feel the immediate effects."

"And you?"

Rita motioned Goldar and Scorpina over to her. "We won't be staying," she said, reaching into her robs and withdrawing a circular glass bottle, corked and filled with a bright light that seemed to be alive. "I must say, Ultramarine," she continued, "it has been most satisfying working with you."

Her two generals reached her, and Rita looked back to Ultramarine. "I've already told Finster to send Rhinoblaster back into the city to keep the Rangers busy," she said. "As for us, the Temple of Lothos awaits," and Rita raised her wand. "Have fun my old ally," and the three teleported away in a flash of flame.

Ultramarine grinned triumphantly beneath his visor, and glanced back to the prison, which was growing brighter every second. "Fear not witch," he murmured. "For I most certainly _will_."


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The alarms all went off simultaneously, and everyone in the Central Chamber automatically turned to the viewing screen at the back of the room.

"Zordon, what is it?" asked Tommy, as the screen flashed to life.

"Rangers, we were correct," the sage replied. "Our sensors indicate that Rita, Goldar and Scorpina have all returned to the Temple of Lothos, accompanied by an unusual energy signature. Also, the Rhinoblaster monster seems to have returned and is attacking Moffat Beach."

"Okay," said Jason, "time's against us, so we split up and attack every problem at once. Billy, you need to stay here and help Alpha. Whatever it takes - _find Brendan_." Billy nodded, and Jason turned back to the viewing screen. "Junior Team, head into the city and deal with Rhinoblaster."

"He'll fit into an envelope by the time we've dealt with him," Sarah nodded. "Trust us."

Jason smiled. "The rest of us will head back to the temple and stop Rita," he finished.

"And get the light back," nodded Kim.

Behind everybody, the Command Centre alarm suddenly sounded again.

"Alpha," said Trini, "what is it?"

"Ayeyiyi!" Alpha cried. "Rangers, it's Ultramarine, he's back - he just landed in downtown Caloundra!"

"Great, just what we needed," said Tommy. "Talk about lose, lose."

Scott nodded. "We can't fight off all these guys at once," he said. "If we split up too much we'll lose every battle, and we'll never find Brendan in time."

"Scott's right," Kim said. "We can't leave Ultramarine alone in the city, but how are we gonna stop him, with everything else going on?"

At the back of the room, I glanced around the Command Centre and stepped forward. "Don't worry about him," I said. "Ultramarine is mine."

Everyone immediately turned to face me.

"No," Jason said flatly, shaking his head. "No way."

"We don't have a choice here," I replied. "We can't spare anybody. Not between stopping Rita, fighting the monster _and_ finding Brendan. Besides, I've got a score to settle with Ultramarine." I paused, glancing up to Zordon. "Not to mention, he's our only link to Brendan. It's a longshot, okay, but I might be able to get him to tell me where Brendan is. I have to try, right?"

Tommy stepped forward. "Peter, I hate to say it but Ultramarine's beaten you twice already, and the only other time you tried to fight a monster on your own was Gluk. This is crazy."

"I have to agree with Tommy here," Jason said. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

I nodded. "Positive. Ultramarine is a great warrior, but we've spent the last few weeks thinking that's a strength, and it isn't. It's something we can use," I replied. "He fights to fight, to feel good about himself. That's his game. And I know I can get wherever Brendan is out of him."

"How?" Teresa asked.

I glanced over to Jason, and smiled. "By changing the rules."

Jason nodded slowly. "And I can't change your mind?"

"Not a chance," I replied.

"Didn't think so," he said, then rested a hand on my shoulder. "Just be careful, all right? We're not losing Brendan and we're not losing you." I nodded, and he smiled. "Okay, the plan's set."

"Good luck Rangers," boomed Zordon, as Billy stepped across to join Alpha.

"Thanks," the Red Ranger replied, and glanced around the group. "Okay guys, this is for Brendan. Let's go!"

* * *

Chaos, destruction, fire - this was where he belonged, Ultramarine reflected, as he carved his wrist blade through a lamppost and blasted a shopfront with his shoulder cannon. The city's central business district was still deserted from Rhinoblaster's attack earlier that day, but even despite the lack of people to terrorise, Ultramarine was eager for the chance to get back to what it was he did best. Although the witch's scheming had paid off, the warrior had always preferred destruction he could taste and feel, not talk and plans in the shadows. But as Ultramarine turned to continue, a voice suddenly rang out, echoing down the street.

"All right Ultramarine, this ends here and now."

Ultramarine looked back slowly to see a lone figure emerging from a smoke cloud, silhouetted against the black cloud of smoke. The figure was taking slow, deliberate steps towards him, and as the figure became clearer, Ultramarine realised who was challenging him.

"Orange Ranger," he grunted, and he began to approach me. "What a pleasant surprise."

"Where's Brendan?" I asked.

Ultramarine shook his head, continuing to step towards me. "I'd tell you on your deathbed, but not a second before," he replied. "And once his power is mine, I'll take my revenge and grind this planet beneath my heel. And the best part is, there's nobody who can stop me."

"No," I said. "There's me."

Behind us, a leaking fuel tank caused a car to explode, but neither of us flinched, our concentration locked on each other.

"Don't make me laugh," Ultramarine grunted. "I've beaten and humiliated you twice, boy. I thought you people would've learned your lesson by now. Guess not."

I held my hand out, and in a flash of orange light, my Power Sword formed in my hand. "I hate to break it to you, but we're not afraid of you, not remotely," I replied. "It must really burn that you lost to a bunch of kids last time?"

His eyes narrowed, but he waved hand his non-commitally. "For all the good it did."

"Yeah, well, what goes around comes around," I said. "Every hurt you've ever caused, I'm here to return to you in full force. I hope you're ready for it."

Now only metres away, Ultramarine raised his arms, his red eyes on fire. "Well then," he growled, "let's have some fun." And with that, both the warrior's wrist blades slid into place, and he took a menacing step towards me.

* * *

The northern suburbs of the city had remained unaffected after Rhinoblaster's earlier attack, and people now ran for their lives as the monster rampaged down onto Moffat Beach and continued north towards Tooway Lake, leaving destruction and clouds of sand and debris in his wake. Grinning to himself as the beachgoers around him ran for safety, Rhinoblaster raised his arm and sent an energy blast towards an abandoned lifeguard tower, destroying the structure in a blaze of fire and smoke.

Turning back to the beach, the beast stepped back as three coloured forms suddenly somersaulted down over his head, the Blue, Purple and White Rangers landing on the beach before him.

"Rhinoblaster," said Sarah. "You won't take another step."

Scott nodded. "You wanted a fight?" he asked. "You got one."

Rhinoblaster sneered. "Please," the monster growled, in deep, bellowing tones. "While I don't know where your silver friend is, I do know that to find him, you'll have to go through me."

Teresa stepped forward. "And in about five minutes," she began, "you're going to really regret saying that."

Rhinoblaster roared in defiance. "Then _bring it on_!" he rumbled, and lowering his head, the monster charged towards them.

The ground shook as the monster approached, but leaping forward, Scott took to the air and landed a kick to the beast's jaw. Rhinoblaster stumbled back with a grunt and Scott spun back around, ducking under a punch and landing another blow to the monster's chest. Rhinoblaster retaliated with a roar, swinging one of his enormous fists for the Blue Ranger's helmet - dodging the punch, Scott struck the beast away with a blow to the ribs. The monster regained his footing and turned back to the Rangers to attack, just as Sarah leaped down in front of him. Blocking a punch, Sarah struck away a low kick and batted away a punch, ducking under another blow and smashing the monster back with a punch to the monster's stomach.

The beast staggered back, but raising his hand, he summoned his sword in a flash of light, before turning back towards the Rangers.

Teresa stepped forward. "Power Whip!" she cried, and her weapon formed in her outstretched hand in a flash of light.

Thundering back towards the White Ranger, the beast slashed high with his blade, but Teresa spun around the slice, struck the monster away with a blow to the ribs and cracked her whip towards the beast's underbelly, the stinging blows forcing Rhinoblaster to retreat. Seeing an opportunity, the beast dodged around the whip, raised his weapon and charged forward, but Teresa wrapped the whip around Rhinoblaster's arm, spinning the monster away from her. Regaining his footing, the monster turned and slashed for the White Ranger - Teresa caught and held the beast's wrist, and raising her other hand, she snapped the blade in two in a shower of sparks. The beast froze, stunned, and Teresa sent him to the ground with a spin kick.

Scott and Sarah quickly joined Teresa, and as their opponent shakily climbed to his feet, the three Rangers raced forward to continue the battle.

* * *

The five Senior Rangers raced across the desert plain, their feet pounding the ground, as the Temple of Lothos loomed above them out of the mountain ahead.

"No putties this time," said Trini, as they approached.

Beside her, Jason nodded. "No time for them, Rita already has everything she needs." With the temple entrance only metres away, the Rangers fell into the mountain's shadow, and Jason turned to the Black Ranger running beside him. "Zac, make an entrance."

Behind his visor, Zac grinned. "You got it," he replied, and leaping into the air, his momentum carrying him forward, Zac slammed both boots against the huge temple doors. The ancient hinges stood no chance, the doors splintering free and falling forward, Zac riding them down as they crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust. Without slowing down, the other four Rangers raced in after him, joining Zac in the temple entrance and summoning their Power Weapons with a thought.

They took in the temple's interior in an instant - Rita back on the raised ledge before the two stone gates, her wand in one hand and what looked to be a cloth-covered bottle in the other, Goldar and Scorpina on either side. Hearing the doors come crashing down, the three immediately spun back around to the team.

"Rangers," Rita said, her expression a mix of annoyance and amusement. "You figured it out. I'm actually impressed."

"The light, Rita," said Tommy. "Hand it over."

Kimberly nodded. "That's an actual being in there."

Rita sneered. "I know," she said, "and it will bow down before me just like the rest of you." The witch paused, and looked around. "And you know the great thing about this place? It comes with its own minions."

Throwing the cloth to the ground, Rita raised the jar to reveal the light inside, the walls of the temple suddenly lit with a blinding glare. Rita smiled, and muttered a low chant beneath her breath - as the Rangers watched, showers of dust and dirt began to rain down from the four statues towering over them, and soon, each of the stone warriors had stepped away from their posts - with rock joints cracking like ice breaking, they all slowly stepped towards the Rangers.

"Take your time," Rita nodded, and lowering the glass jar, turned back to the stone gates.

Jason turned back to the Rangers. "Kim, get the light. Everybody else, spread out!"

"Right!"

The five Rangers charged towards their rocky opponents, Kimberly somersaulting right over the statues as they each attacked one of the Rangers behind her. Jason ducked as a massive rocky fist swung for his head, dodging another punch and striking away a third, before spinning his sword above his head and carving the blade straight through the statue's torso. Beside him, Tommy was trading blows with his rocky opponent, stepping around a punch from the right, batting away a low swipe and forcing the statue back with a blow to the chest. The statue stumbled back away from him, and the Green Ranger leaped forward with a jump kick, the blow instantly shattering his opponent.

Across the temple, Trini spun around a swipe from her opponent and somersaulted to the side over a second blow, throwing a dagger as she landed. The statue quickly dodged around the weapon, but while it was distracted, Trini leaped forward, aiming a palm strike straight for her opponent's chest and reducing the statue to rubble. A few metres away, Zac spun under a blow and swung his Power Axe as he turned, carving a huge crack in the statue's shoulder. Turning back, the statue swung both its rocky fists for the Black Ranger, but Zac leaped back over the move, spinning the barrel of his axe as he landed.

"Rock on," he said, and pulled the trigger.

Sounds of combat filling the temple behind her, Kim approached the stone ledge where Rita was standing, and quickly weighed her options. To climb either staircase meant going past Goldar and Scorpina, and she'd lose precious seconds trying to fight her way past either of them. Straight up was her only option.

Hesitating a second longer, Kim leaped forward, gaining a foothold on the wall of carvings long enough to step up to an overhanging statue, before somersaulting from there up onto the ledge, landing only a few feet behind Rita. Goldar and Scorpina immediately raised their swords and stepped towards the Pink Ranger, but in one smooth motion Kim raised her bow and fired a volley of arrows into the rocky wall above them.

An avalanche of rubble crashed down over the ledge forcing the two warriors back as Rita spun around to find the source of the commotion - as she turned, Kimberly darted forward and grabbed the jar, wrenching it out of Rita's grip. Holding it tightly, she backflipped back off the ledge, through the air and down to the other Rangers, landing amidst the remains of the shattered statues where Zac and Jason immediately held their weapons in front of the jar.

"How dare you?" screeched Rita. "Goldar, Scorpina, get them!"

The two generals leaped down off the debris-strewn ledge towards the five Rangers, but Kimberly smiled and reached for her communicator, vanishing with the jar a second later. The four remaining Rangers lowered their weapons, and Goldar and Scorpina froze, glancing uncertainly back to Rita.

"Imagine that," said Jason. "No light. Game over, Rita."

With an expression of pure fury, Rita's eyes flashed, but suddenly the witch smiled. "So it would seem," she said. "But even with the light, it won't help you find your silver friend or stop Ultramarine, will it?" The Rangers froze, and Rita laughed. "A pity - for all your bravado, for all your cheap talk, you still lose," and raising her wand, the three villains vanished from the scene.

"It ain't over yet," said Jason, and looked to the other Rangers. "C'mon guys, let's go..."

* * *

The two of us stood eye-to-eye in the deserted battleground, silently staring each other down in a tense standoff. I didn't know whether I could beat Ultramarine, just that I didn't have to, if things went the way I hoped. But Jason wouldn't have let me leave the Command Centre if he didn't think I could do it. He had faith in me, and for the moment, that was enough.

Ultramarine broke the tension and made the first move.

He charged forward, slashing his blades for my stomach - I stepped around the left blade and blocked his right blade with my sword, batting it away before swinging for his chest-plate. Ultramarine blocked my sword with his left blade, spinning around and attacking me with a wide diagonal slice. I caught and struck his blade away, before landing several rapid blows to his stomach. Ultramarine recovered quickly but I pressed forward, slashing with every step. Blocking and countering my attacks, the warrior lunged forward with a horizontal slash. I brought my sword down onto his blade, effectively halting the weapon's arc and striking it away, but Ultramarine sent me stumbling with a heel to the stomach.

I quickly found my footing and turned back to the warrior, more determined than ever to match him blow-for-blow. He lunged forward with his right blade - I somersaulted over him to safety, but Ultramarine spun around on the spot, slashing with both blades. I carved my sword back towards him in a straight diagonal stroke, intercepting both blades and striking them away before ramming the handle of my weapon into Ultramarine's stomach with all my strength. He grunted angrily and his left blade flashed towards me - I raised my sword, blocked the blade, struck his right blade away, and slashed my blade down his chest armour. Sparks rained down from the blow as my blade carved through his armour, but Ultramarine charged forwards through the cloud, slashing with every step and forcing me back.

The battle raged on furiously. Lunge, block, duck, slash, parry, the blades were all moving at an incredible pace - had there been any casual observers, the battle would have appeared as a continuous, steady blur. Ultramarine slashed his left blade at my head, and as I ducked the move he swung low, forcing me to jump back and over as the blade swept under me. Around us, buildings and cares were burning, casting crazy shadows all around as the two of us continued trading blows.

I swung for his chest, but he blocked the blow and lashed out with a horizontal stroke. Spinning around the move I retaliated with a wide slice, but Ultramarine was too fast, blocking the move, countering my attacks and slashing again and again, forcing me to back up. I blocked his right blade but with his left he landed a glancing blow to my shoulder, and I cried out as I quickly backed out of range. He continued forward relentless, his blades slicing through the air, and although I struck away his left blade, he brought his right down across my chest, and even as I stumbled back in a cloud of sparks and smoke, Ultramarine fired with his shoulder cannon, the blast lifting me off my feet and sending me back through a shop window where I crashed to a stop.

Ultramarine lowered his arms and stepped back. "If you surrender now, I'll end this quickly," he said. "But I'm enjoying this, so either way I'll run with your decision."

Picking myself out of the rubble, I climbed out of the ruined shop and took a step towards him. "Enjoy _this_," I said, and raising my blade, I charged towards him.

I slashed at the warrior with a wide diagonal stroke as I approached. He ducked back out of range and I continued forward, spinning around and slashing for his torso. He struck away my sword and swung for my stomach with his left blade - I blocked and countered the attack, raising my sword above my head and slicing forward. He raised his arm, halting my blade in a shower of sparks, and withdrawing his right blade, he slammed his open palm into my chest, the blow sending me crashing back into a wall where I collapsed to the ground.

But even as I staggered to my feet, the warrior was already thundering towards me with his right blade raised, and he slashed the weapon towards me before I had the chance to defend myself - I quickly leaped to safety, but as I turned back to face him his shoulder cannon roared to life, the blasts slamming me back in an explosion of sparks and fire.

"What's the matter?" he asked with an amused tone, watching me climb to my feet. "Am I too much for you? I thought I didn't scare you."

I didn't answer, my attention focussed on Ultramarine's shoulder cannon. Our blaster shots bounced off him, and while he had that cannon he had an advantage I couldn't get around. Tightening my grip around my sword, I paused a second before leaping towards him, on a course that took me straight past him. Ultramarine froze, confused, and by the time he realised what I was doing it was too late - flying towards him, I rammed my sword straight through the blue barrel of the cannon, instantly destroying the weapon.

I dropped to the pavement, found my footing and spun back around - despite being rocked by fiery explosions from the remains of his cannon, Ultramarine turned back to face me, his eyes burning bright with hatred. Raising his blades, the warrior stepped back towards me and attacked - I blocked one blade and narrowly dodged the other, but before I realised it, he'd forced me back and pinned me to the wall behind me, the two blades at my neck.

"Now _that_," he growled, "was a really bad idea."

My heart racing, I nodded. "Is this close enough to my deathbed?" I asked. "Brendan, where is he?"

Ultramarine laughed a dry, hoarse sound. "The last gambit of the truly desperate," he said. "I don't think so. Although..." He paused, and I held my breath. "I can tell you would've really appreciated the artwork."

Bingo. I'd got him.

Gritting my teeth, I slammed both fists into his chest armour with all the strength I had left, bringing my sword back up across his chest-armour as he stumbled away, the warrior staggering back in a cloud of fire and smoke.

With Ultramarine dazed from the attack, I raised my wrist to my helmet. "Alpha, Billy, I got it. Brendan's in a cave somewhere," I said quickly, "some place with Aboriginal art, or rock carvings or something, and probably some place pretty close."

"Thanks Peter," came Billy's voice. "Do you require any assistance?"

"No," I replied. "Just find Brendan," and the communicator fell silent.

Across the battlefield, Ultramarine's gaze rose from my communicator to my helmet. "You... you..." he muttered, barely able to speak through his fury, "_you tricked me_."

I shook my head. "No trick to it," I said. "It was all you, Ultramarine. You just couldn't resist the opportunity to brag. To tell someone how good you are." I paused, stepping towards him. "And it suddenly occurs to me, Ultramarine, that if you really _were_ such a great warrior, you wouldn't need to spend so much time and energy trying desperately to prove it."

Ultramarine stepped back in shock. "Who do you think you are?"

"Better than _you_," I replied, "regardless of everything else. Put a toad in a suit of armour with a couple of fancy swords, and guess what? He's _still_ just a toad."

Shaking with fury, Ultramarine stepped back towards me. "Believe me boy, you will pay dearly for that," he said, but then stopped, his eyes growing wide. "Because I suspect the rules are about to change."

Without warning, the entire street was lit with a blinding glare, and I raised my arm to shield my eyes as a line of shining silver rapidly began advancing across Ultramarine's armour, rising from his boots to his helmet and steadily replacing the original dark blue. After a few seconds the storm of light faded, leaving Ultramarine in a suit of bright silver armour, and he held his arms up in wonder before turning to face me.

I stepped back in disbelief. It was too late. The other Rangers hadn't reached Brendan in time, and the power Brendan had as the Silver Ranger now belonged to Ultramarine.

"As I was saying," the warrior growled, his voice low and dangerous as he steadily closed in.

"_You lose_."


	8. Chapter 7

Author's notes -- thanks for reading :). During the past four stories, every member of the Junior Team has gotten a moment in the spotlight except for my own character, Peter, so I figured it was about time to give him something awesome. And given we're 5 stories into the series, I think it was a safe move, without swerving into Mary-Sue territory. Anyway, I hope you enjoy :).

**Chapter Seven**

Charging towards the Rangers, Rhinoblaster swung an enormous fist at Scott, the closest target - the Blue Ranger ducked around the blow, striking the monster in the ribs as he thundered past. Rhinoblaster grunted and spun back to face him, but while the monster was still off-balance, Scott leaped into the air, kicking forward and forcing the beast to retreat. Even as Rhinoblaster found his footing, Sarah leaped forward to attack, blocking a punch, batting away a second blow and landing a palm-strike to the monster's chest. Rhinoblaster stumbled back, panting and dazed, before turning back to Sarah to retaliate, but as he lunged for the Purple Ranger, Teresa wrapped the trailing end of her whip around the monster's legs, taking them out from under him and sending Rhinoblaster to the ground.

The three Rangers regrouped as the monster climbed to his feet.

"Let's finish this creep," said Scott.

Teresa nodded, and the three Rangers reached for their blasters and took aim at the approaching monster. "Okay, fire!"

The combined blast from the three weapons spiralled across the battlefield and slammed into the monster, instantly destroying Rhinoblaster in a massive explosion that lit up the beach, sent a bright fireball roaring skyward and left a wide smoking crater in the sand.

"Good job guys," said Sarah, as they reholstered their blasters.

"I'll say," came a voice, and they turned to see the all of the Senior Rangers minus Billy crossing the beach towards them. "We were gonna ask if you needed any help," continued Zac, as the Rangers all met up, "but, you know. Good work."

"Did you reach the light?" Scott asked.

Trini nodded. "We made it to the temple in time," she replied. "The light's safe in the Command Centre with Alpha and Zordon."

"Anything on Brendan?" asked Teresa, her voice hopeful.

Tommy shook his head. "Not yet."

Teresa began to reply when suddenly, everybody's communicators all chimed, and Jason raised his wrist to his mouth and spoke.

"Go Alpha," he said. "We're all here."

"Rangers," crackled Alpha's voice. "Peter just called, apparently he was able to get Ultramarine to tell him where Brendan's being held."

"All right," said Scott. "Go Pete."

"Alpha, what did Peter say?" asked Kim.

"He said that Ultramarine told him Brendan is in a cave with Aboriginal painting or rock carvings," Alpha replied. "And given Ultramarine's goal of stealing Brendan's powers, it's likely to be somewhere close."

"Well that's great," said Scott. "Alpha, have you got a list of possible caves? Like, say, everything on the Eastern Seaboard?"

"Affirmative," came the reply. "They're in random order. I'll read them out - Atlas Rock, a hundred kilometres west of Brisbane, Levi's Cave, north of the Sunshine Coast, the Sapphire Cave, down in the Blue Mountains, Mansfield's Plateau..."

"Wait, hold on a second," began Kim. "Alpha, what was that last one?"

"The Sapphire Cave."

The Rangers all looked to each other. "Ultramarine, sapphire, and blue," said Zac. "Would Ultramarine really be that obvious?"

"Yeah, you know, he totally would," Kim nodded. "Of course Ultramarine would pick somewhere like that, it'd remind him of how clever he is."

Jason nodded. "That's it Alpha, that has to be the place," he said. "We'll teleport there now. Billy, meet us there," and with that, the eight Rangers reached for their communicators and vanished from the scene.

* * *

Ultramarine punched the air with his armoured fists, and a silver beam of light shot air towards me. I leaped to safety with centimetres to spare, the beam smashing into where I'd been standing seconds ago and sending up an explosion of sparks and smoke. I kept moving, Ultramarine turning to follow after me and sending blast after blast spiralling towards me. I leaped up and over a car as it exploded beneath me, but I wasn't clear and the force of the explosion blasted me to the ground. With everything aching, I climbed to my feet, glancing around desperately for anything I could use but never once losing grip of my sword. Even as I turned back to Ultramarine, he sent two more blasts scorching towards me - I struck the first away with my sword, but the second one slammed me back off my feet.

The warrior laughed as I staggered to my feet, panting and dazed. "I thought you said you weren't afraid of me," he growled. "Are you afraid of me now?" and he sent another blast towards me.

I dived to the side and the blast smashed harmlessly into the ground behind me, and I rolled to my feet limping and bruised.

"Just imagine," Ultramarine continued, "the boy had all this power and never bothered using it. I should thank him when I go back..."

"Don't even say his name," I growled, and raising my sword, charged towards him. The silver warrior sent a blast spiralling straight towards me, but I dived over the beam of light, rolling to my feet and immediately attacking, carving my sword across his chest, slashing again and again. Despite the frenzied attack, Ultramarine barely blinked, and as I swung again he reached out and caught the blade, before landing a solid punch to my stomach, letting go of the sword and sweeping me away with a right backhand.

I crashed to the ground but climbed to my feet, when the silver warrior raised his arms and sent out a blast in all directions. The wave smashed into me and launched me off my feet - my sword clattered to the ground, and I landed in a crumpled heap in the middle of the street.

Ultramarine grinned beneath his visor, and his two shining silver blades slid coolly into place.

"And now it ends," he said. "Rest assured boy, your courage won't have been in vain. I've really enjoyed myself," and raising his arms, the warrior stepped towards me.

* * *

Putties are not universally renowned for their intelligence. The clay creatures do have the capacity of independent, conscious thought, most just never quite get the hang of using it. However, for the putties left guarding Brendan inside the Sapphire Cave, the sudden sounds of combat that began to echo out of the cave entrance followed by a dozen of their own flying backwards out of the tunnel could pretty much only lead to one conclusion.

Raising their weapons, the nine Power Rangers charged out of the tunnel and into the cave, fanning out on either side of the Red and White Rangers in the middle.

"We were right," nodded Jason, as the grey warriors in the cave all turned to them. "Guys, hold 'em off, Teresa and I will get to Brendan. Go!"

With that the cavern came alive with the sounds of battle as the Rangers swept forward through the ranks of putties. Jason and Teresa sprinted across the cave, Teresa swapping her whip for her blaster and Jason swinging his sword at any opponent that came too close. Halfway across the cavern, the Red Ranger leaped up onto a small ridge and dived off, taking several putties to the ground before rolling to his feet and continuing forward, while a step behind him, two more warriors lunged for Teresa, but the White Ranger sent them both to the ground with a high spin kick.

Putties fell on all sides as the two Rangers reached the figure of Brendan slumped against the back of the cave. Glancing to the nearby rainbow prison, Jason carved his sword through the chains holding Brendan's arms to the wall, and as Brendan slumped forward, Teresa took aim with her blaster, severing the links binding the Silver Ranger's legs. Dropping his sword, Jason immediately picked up the younger Ranger and carried him away from the glowing prison, the beam of light connecting the two dissipating as Jason rested Brendan against a nearby stalagmite.

By now the battle was over, and the other Rangers all jogged over, reaching Jason and Teresa just as Brendan's suit flashed and he demorphed in a blaze of silver. The Rangers held their breath, but Brendan's eyes soon flickered open, and everyone let out of a sigh of relief.

"Brendan!" cried Teresa, kneeling down to hug the Silver Ranger. "We thought we'd lost you!"

"It's good to see you guys too," smiled Brendan, then glanced back to the White Ranger. "Uh, Teresa, oxygen's kinda becoming an issue..."

Teresa blushed and leaned back. "Sorry," she said, helping Brendan to his feet.

Brendan grinned, but suddenly aware of the rocky walls and unconscious putties around him, he turned to the rest of the group. "So, where am I? Why did Rita...?"

"Ultramarine was never after the light inside the prism," Teresa explained. "He was after _you_, and he used the prism to drain away your powers."

"Wait, Ultramarine actually stole my powers?" asked Brendan.

Everyone nodded, and Billy glanced back to the prison. "Finster must've opened the prison to remove the light originally, so in theory restoring your powers shouldn't be that difficult," he said, but suddenly his eyes grew wide. "But given the fact you just demorphed, I'd suggest the conversion was a success..."

There was a moment of silence, as everyone realised what Billy meant. "We saw Brendan wipe out an army with those powers," said Trini. "If Ultramarine really does have access to that kind of power, it's only a matter of time before he starts getting creative."

"Oh no," said Scott, looking around the group. "_Peter_..."

"Wait a sec," said Brendan. "Where _is_ Peter?"

"In the city," replied Sarah. "He left to hold off Ultramarine. Guys, we have to go help him, like now.

Tommy shook his head. "We need to stop Ultramarine before we do anything," he said. "If we just teleport straight into the city, we don't stand a chance."

His expression falling, Brendan glanced from the glowing glass cube back to the Rangers, and knew what he had to do. "Sarah, mace," he said. "Now."

"Brendan, wait," said Zac, as Sarah gave him the surprisingly-heavy Power Weapon. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"

Brendan nodded, and stepped back towards the prison. "Positive," he said, then looked back to the team and raised the mace above his head. "We're the Power Rangers, right?" he asked. "We don't let the badguys win."

With that, he brought the mace straight down towards the prison, smashing the cube into thousands of tiny shards in an explosion of light and glass. Letting his arm fall, he stepped back towards the Rangers, falling into Zac's arms.

"Game over," he mumbled with a smile.

"Peter's still going to need our help," said Sarah.

"And he'll get it," Jason said, stepping away from the group and picking up his sword. "Take Brendan back to the Command Centre. I'll head into the city," and he reached for his communicator and vanished from the scene in a flash of red light.

* * *

I could hear Ultramarine approach, his every triumphant step thudding up through the concrete. I fought to get to my feet, to escape, to do anything, but my body was screaming in protest, and I collapsed helplessly back against the ground. It shouldn't be ending this way, it just shouldn't be.

"And once the Rangers are weak," Ultramarine continued conversationally, as if he was reading a shopping list, "I destroy them all, shatter this city and wipe the planet clean." His shadow fell over me, and he paused triumphantly. "And then..." But he broke off, suddenly aware that something far away felt dangerously wrong. His eyes flew wide as he realised the truth.

"**No!**"

Without warning, the feedback from the Rainbow Prison's destruction smashed into the warrior with the force of a small meteor, lifting him clean off his feet and slamming him back through a building. With a flash of light, his silver armour vanished, leaving him in the all too-familiar blue, and he fell to the ground as the store collapsed in around him.

Silence fell over the battlefield, save for the crackling of the fires around me.

I let out the breath I'd been holding, and rested my forehead against my arm. I couldn't see what had happened to Ultramarine, but knew that the other Rangers had come through.

It was then that I heard it.

"Get up."

Opening my eyes, I looked up and around, and my gaze settled on a pair of boots barely a metre away from me. White boots, with red diamonds.

"Get up. _Please_."

I smiled, and finding reserves of strength I didn't think I had, I put my hands on the pavement and forced myself up off the ground, only to suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder hauling me to my feet. And I looked up and around into the visor of the Red Power Ranger.

Jason smiled, relieved. "Scare a guy, why don't you?" he asked.

He carefully pulled his hand away, and I stayed standing. "Thanks," I said.

He nodded. "You say the word," he said, "and I will feed him his helmet."

I shook my head. "I told you I can do this," I said. "How's Brendan?"

"He's okay," Jason replied, although I heard the tone in his voice. "But by the time we reached him, the prison had drained all his power, and he had to shatter the thing to stop Ultramarine."

My expression behind my visor fell. "So...?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

I grit my teeth, and turned back to where Ultramarine was picking himself out of the wreckage of the ruined store. "Jason, just hang back a second, will you?" And taking slow, pained steps, I crossed the battleground back towards the blue warrior.

"Peter," he called, and as I turned back to him, he threw his sword towards me. The weapon spun through the air, and reaching out, I caught the handle with my left hand, turning back to Ultramarine as I reached my own fallen sword.

"So, Ultramarine," I said, bringing my foot down on the handle of my sword, and catching it as it spun up towards me. "You ready for round two?"

The warrior staggered out of the wreckage, staring dumbly at his armour. "My power," he said, his voice a mix of disbelief and growing rage. "_What have you done?_"

"Taken back something that was rightfully ours," I said. "And now I'm here to give you something so rightfully yours." Raising both swords, I charged towards him, the two of us meeting in the centre of the battlefield ready for the final showdown.

He slashed with his blades as I approached - I blocked his right blade with Jason's sword, struck away his left blade with my own and spun around, bringing both blades back across the warrior's chest. Ultramarine roared and attacked again, swinging high, but I stepped around the blade's arc, batting his other blade away and ramming the handle of Jason's sword into his facemask. Ultramarine shook his head and retaliated, swinging out blindly - I blocked one swing, struck away a second and holding both his blades in check before sending him stumbling with a kick to the chest.

The warrior staggered back, dazed, and I pressed forward, slashing with every step. Ultramarine raised his blades to defend himself, desperately fighting to keep up with me. I caught one blade, landed a blow to his chest, stepped around a wide swing and caught him as he spun back around. Panting and wounded, he dodged my sword and struck out with a low kick - I easily sidestepped the move, struck him back with a blow to the stomach and threw all my strength into a roundhouse punch. The blow was staggering, the warrior stumbling back.

"No!" he roared, in angry disbelief, "I will not be beaten by a child!" And with anger to match his desperation, he raised his right blade and swung it towards me.

"This is for Aaron!" I cried, and swung Jason's sword towards the descending blade. The sword sliced clean through the weapon, and the blade spun away from Ultramarine and clattered to the ground.

Ultramarine froze, stunned, but seeing his shattered blade, he roared and swung again with his left.

"This is for Brendan!"

My sword struck his blade in midair, the warrior's blade snapping neatly in two. The warrior staggered back, and I lowered Jason's sword and stabbed it into the earth beside me.

"And this one's for me."

Raising my own sword high into the air, lightning bolts struck down from a suddenly cloudy sky, instantly charging the sword with shimmering orange energy. Hesitating a second longer, I slashed the sword down through the air towards him, a massive blast of energy exploding from the sword's arc, surging across the battlefield and slamming into him. Ultramarine cried out in disbelief as a fireball suddenly consumed him, and he was torn apart in a massive explosion that lit up the area and echoed down the street.

A second of silence followed, and as the smoke cloud cleared, I saw what I needed to see - the warrior was finally gone. Behind me, Jason slowly stepped forward to join me, stopping to pick up his sword. Out of breath, I turned to him and leaned against his shoulder as he reached me. For a moment, neither of us spoke.

"I can't believe I just did that," I puffed.

"Neither can I," he said, and when I turned to him, Jason laughed.

I smiled, but suddenly remembered what he'd told me before. "Oh no," I said. "Brendan. C'mon," and we reached for our communicators and teleported away.

* * *

The bottle Rita had used to capture the light sat empty on the control panel nearest the viewing screen at the back of the room, the light itself hovering in the air a few metres above it. Like the far end of a spotlight without the torch attached, the light moved through the air of its own accord, occasionally drifting up to explore the shadows of the ceiling. It was fascinating, and any other day it would've been mesmerising.

Any other day.

"Zordon," began Brendan, standing between Teresa and me in the centre of the room, "is there any chance of getting my powers back into my Power Coin?"

Zordon shook his head. "By the time the Rangers reached you, the Prison had drawn all your power into it," he said. "Destroying the Rainbow Prison, well..." but his voice trailed off. "Our sensors can detect traces of your power still in the Sapphire Cave, but we have no way of infusing that power back into your coin. I'm sorry Brendan."

"Surely there's something we can do," said Teresa. "There has to be."

"I wish I had better news," Zordon replied softly. "There's just nothing we can do."

"This just can't be happening, not again," said Zac. "We beat him, we won. Doesn't that count for anything? I mean it shouldn't have cost us another Ranger."

"It's more than that though," said Sarah, glancing back to him. "With only four Rangers, we're only two-thirds of a full team."

I nodded. "There's no way around it, is there? The Junior Team is history."

Kimberly shook her head. "Don't say that, don't even think it," she said, but her voice was quiet.

We all lowered our gazes, and I looked to Brendan beside me. "Hey," I said, and he turned to me. "If I hadn't been getting stomped by Ultramarine, you wouldn't have had to destroy that stupid prison to save me. So for whatever it's worth, I'm sorry."

Brendan smiled. "Hey, I destroyed that thing to make killing Ultramarine a whole lot easier," he said. "I think we came out okay."

"But if I hadn't left to fight Ultramarine on my own..."

"Then you never would've found me at all, and Ultramarine would've become unstoppable," Brendan replied. "It's cool man. Things happened the way they had to."

I nodded. "First Aaron, and now this," I said, shaking my head. "I thought we'd come out better this time, not worse."

At the back of the room, Scott turned towards me, his brow lowered. "Aaron..." he said aloud, and then suddenly jumped to his feet. "Guys, I've got an idea," he said, as everyone turned to him. "Now tell me if this is crazy, but Aaron lost his power coin and his zord, right?" We all nodded, and Scott continued. "Well, Brendan still has his power coin and the Dilophozord, he just doesn't have any power." There was a brief second of silence as we all took in what he was saying, but once we'd caught up, everyone started laughing and cheering.

"Scott, that's brilliant!" cried Trini.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, great thinking," she laughed.

"Uh," began Zac, "can someone on the clue train come back and pick me up?"

Jason smiled. "What Scott was saying," he explained, "is that Brendan might've lost his power, but Aaron's aqua power is still roaming through the Grid." He looked up to Zordon. "Will a power transfer work?"

Zordon nodded. "I see no reason why it wouldn't. Alpha, can you make the necessary preparations?" he asked, before turning back to the now-joyful group. "Excellent Rangers, turning a defeat into another triumph. And while Alpha begins the process," and the sage glanced across the room to the light hovering above us, "I'd like to have a few words with our guest..."

* * *

It only took Alpha a few minutes to scan the Morphin' Grid and track down the restless aqua power, while Billy followed Alpha's instructions and called up a picture of the Dilophozord on the viewing screen behind us. Finally, Alpha turned back to the group and beckoned Brendan over to stand in the centre of the room.

"We're all ready," he said, as Brendan stepped over. "If you could hold your Power Coin in front of you?"

Brendan nodded, reaching for his back pocket. "If you say so Alpha," he replied, then looked up to Zordon. "Will this hurt?"

Zordon smiled. "You'll be fine," he said. "Alpha, please begin the transfer."

Alpha nodded, flicking a switch on the control panel - the lights in the room flickered as the two huge electrodes on either side of the room began to crackle with power. All of a sudden, an aqua-coloured arc of electricity shot down from either side into Brendan's coin, and aqua energy began flooding down Brendan's arms and through his body. Beside me on the viewing screen, I noticed the same thing happening to the Dilophozord, aqua energy racing along the zord's exterior.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and the energy flow ended, the lights in the ceiling flickering back to life. Standing before us, with a Dilophosaurus Power Coin and with two aqua sai, was an Aqua Ranger. Reaching down to his morpher, Brendan demorphed, and glancing around the room, he grinned the familiar million-watt smile.

"Aqua, the new silver," he said, and everybody laughed. "Man, thanks guys, this is just awesome."

"My Rangers," boomed Zordon, and we all turned up to him. "If only you could know how proud I am to finally see the team as it should be, with a strong Aqua Ranger among its ranks." The sage paused, and smiled. "Welcome back Brendan. We missed you."

Everyone smiled, and Zordon continued. "I have no doubt Ultramarine will never threaten us again, and with luck, the other members of the Brotherhood were all paying very close attention. As for the Temple of Lothos, we will seal the entrance and place a solar-powered forcefield around the mountain to keep people out. If anyone ever approaches the temple again, we'll know about it."

"What about the collector?" asked Teresa.

"Once we've accessed the island's databanks, we can return all of the collector's items to their rightful owners," Zordon replied. "Although I suspect that many museums will end up receiving anonymous donations, and the more powerful items will have to be kept safe here. As for the collector himself, for his faults he did help us, and I believe a simple grave on the island's slopes will be a good final resting place."

Kimberly stepped forward. "And the light?"

"Ah," Zordon nodded. "While Alpha was tracking down the aqua power, the light and I managed to communicate. Not with words, but with an exchange of ideas, pictures and emotions, it's actually quite difficult to explain. The light thanks us for our help today, but has made one request."

Jason nodded. "We'd like to help it, but do we have what it wants?"

Zordon smiled, and glanced down to Brendan. "As a matter of fact Rangers," he began, "I believe this is one wish that we can grant..."

* * *

In three bright flashes of light, Kimberly, Billy and Trini materialised outside the entrance to the Sapphire Cave a few feet away from the rest of us, Grind and Tanith arriving beside them seconds later.

"Seriously," grunted the skateboarder, clutching his head in pain, "I'll take the long way home."

Tanith laughed. "I thought that was fun," she smiled.

Kimberly grinned and turned to us. "Guys, I'd like you all to meet Grind and Tanith, the two heroes we were telling you about. Grind and Tanith, these are the Rangers."

Tanith fairly beamed. "It's an honour to meet you all," she said.

Jason stepped forward, and Grind shook the Red Ranger's outstretched hand. "Thank you for all your help today," Jason said. "Without you guys we never would've stopped Ultramarine or Rita."

Grind nodded. "Not a problem, but why the vacation all the way out here?"

"Because there's something you guys will want to see," said Trini. "Come inside."

The eleven of us led the two heroes back into the tunnel entrance, and passing the dancing figures on the cave walls, we soon stepped out into the enormous cavern. The torches had long since gone out, but the interior of the cave remained brightly lit - the light was hovering high above the centre of the cavern, and seeing us arrive, it shot down towards Grind and Tanith, bathing everyone in a warm glow.

"The light!" Grind exclaimed, then caught himself. "Uh, I mean, cool."

Tanith laughed. "This is wonderful," she said, and glanced across to the rest of us. "Thank you, from both of us. Did you bring the light here to keep it safe?"

Billy shook his head. "While we did rescue the light," he said, "it actually made the

request to be brought here."

"How come?" asked Grind.

"Like you said, the light's basically just like the rest of us," Jason explained. "Our Silver Ranger's power is still in this cave, and our best guess is that the light wanted to come here simply because it just didn't want to be alone."

Everyone continued to admire the light, and Billy stepped over to where Trini and Kimberly were standing.

"So, Kimberly," he began, turning to the Pink Ranger beside him. "It's approximately three o'clock, shouldn't you be at your cheerleader practice now?"

Kim smiled beneath her visor. "Yeah, I should be," she replied, then looked back to the skateboarding hero across the cave standing beside the Martian fairy princess. "But something Grind said was totally right. Why play the game by somebody else's rules? I don't need anybody else telling me what should be important," and the Pink Ranger glanced around the cave and turned back to Trini and Billy. "I already know that."

Trini smiled. "And you're not worried about Veronica?"

Kim shook her head. "Nah," she replied. "Even if worse comes to worse and she _does_ drop me from the team, I'm pretty sure the rest of the squad will be able to change her mind," and the Pink Ranger grinned. "Particularly once they discover that without me, they'll have to rely on Veronica, who for all her many skills can't keep a beat to save her life. So no, I'm not too worried at all."

Across the cavern, watching as the light drifted up to explore the cave's shadowy roof, Teresa crossed the cave to join Brendan.

"Hey," she called, and the Aqua Ranger turned to her. "Listen, Brendan," she said. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about before, about what I said back in front of the temple on Friday. I didn't mean..." but her voice trailed off. "I'm sorry."

"That's totally cool," Brendan replied. "No hard feelings."

Teresa nodded. "You know," she said, with a hint of a smile, "I kind of like your one-liners. Besides, I guess that's just how you play this game, and I know we'd all be worse off without you."

"Thanks," Brendan smiled, and glanced down to his new aqua suit. "Look, I know I'm not gonna be as good as the last guy who wore this suit, but..."

"Hey," Teresa interrupted. "Remember that first morning in the Command Centre?" Brendan nodded, and she continued. "I meant everything I said then, and I still do. You'll make a great Aqua Ranger, just as awesome as Aaron, I know it."

Brendan nodded, and satisfied they'd said all that needed to be said, both the White and Aqua Rangers turned back to the light. "Did the world get a lot bigger today, or what?" Brendan asked, then grinned. "Very enlightening."

Teresa laughed. "Okay, you get one bad pun for free, but the next one's gonna cost you."

"You're just jealous of my sparkling wit... ow, c'mon, that was way better!"

A few metres away, I glanced from Grind and Tanith to the light, then around the cave back to Jason beside me. "All's well that ends well, I guess," I said.

Jason nodded. "What a day, huh?"

I looked back to the other Rangers. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Well, I know I killed Ultramarine," I began, "but if anything, today proved me right. If you hadn't showed up or if Brendan hadn't taken out the Rainbow Prison, I would've been done for." I paused, and looked to Jason. "So what I've been wanting to know for weeks now, is why? Even with all the training and all the weapons, I'm still terrible at this. I mean, why do you want me to be on this team and to have this Power Coin so much?"

Beneath his helmet, the Red Ranger smiled. "This afternoon," he said, "why did you leave to go fight Ultramarine? Like you said, he could've killed you."

I shrugged. "Somebody had to, right?"

Jason grinned. "Yeah Pete," he replied. "_That's_ why."

I turned back to him, puzzled, as Teresa jogged over to the two of us.

"Hey, Zac just challenged Grind to a skateboarding duel," she said, nodding to everyone else back across the cave.

We all turned and began walking back towards them. "But if Zac's morphed, won't that be a bit unfair?" Jason asked.

Teresa nodded. "That's what Tanith said, but Grind volunteered to wear a blindfold, so that Zac might stand more of a chance."

I laughed. "Okay, this I have to see..."

And watched by a light that felt alone no longer, the three of us met up with the rest of the group, and we all wandered back out into the afternoon sunshine.

The End.


End file.
